January 2017

New Year, New Nutrition Education Opportunities for Members!

This is the time of year when members will be making resolutions for a healthier mind, body and spirit. Although nutrition should be addressed at every visit, we encourage you to utilize this time of year to review your method of educating members about nutrition to better empower them in their health care practices.

The following information provide updates that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) recommends for Body Mass Index (BMI) and nutrition screening components of the Texas Health Steps (THSteps) exam. Assessing your patients’ nutritional foundation and knowledge can lead to discussions about health and nutrition improvement.

Nutritional Screening
Dietary practices should be assessed to identify unusual eating habits such as pica, extended use of baby bottle feedings, or eating disorders in older children and adolescents. For nutritional problems, further assessment is indicated.

THSteps recommends that health care providers review:

• Measurements/BMI and laboratory screening
• Special diets/food allergies
• Restaurant/fast food
• Infants: feeding schedules
• Children and adolescents: dietary practices

BMI
Use age-appropriate growth graph to identify significant deviations.

THSteps recommends that health care providers use:

• The World Health Organization (WHO) growth charts for infants and children up to 2 years of age.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) growth charts for children who are 2 years of age or older.