Exploration of body perception and body dissatisfaction in young adults with intellectual disability.
Clients with ID often feel fine about their bodies while failing to recognize their true size, so teach size concepts before any weight-loss plan.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Eden et al. (2017) asked young adults with intellectual disability about their bodies. They used pictures, questions, and simple sorting tasks. The goal was to see if clients could match their real body size to the right picture and words like "underweight" or "overweight."
No diets or exercise plans were tested. The team just wanted to know what clients believed about their own bodies before any weight program started.
What they found
Most clients felt good about their bodies. Yet they could not pick the picture that looked like them. They also could not label their own weight group correctly.
In short, positive feelings did not equal accurate knowing. Clients needed teaching to connect body-size words to their own shape.
How this fits with other research
Maïano et al. (2011) already showed that a six-item body-concept survey works well with the same age group. Kate adds the warning that good survey scores still hide size-matching errors.
Pickard et al. (2022) later proved that adults with ID can give reliable self-report health data when questions are short and clear. Kate’s finding explains why you must first teach the body-size part of those questions.
Laugeson et al. (2014) found that over half of Special Olympics athletes with ID are overweight or obese. Kate’s study shows those athletes may not even know it, making early education crucial.
Why it matters
Before you write a weight-management goal, check if the client can link size words to their own photo. If not, start with matching games and picture sorts. Five minutes of concept training can save weeks of confusion later.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: People with intellectual disability (ID) are more likely to be overweight or obese. Research has shown that body dissatisfaction is a key factor in influencing unhealthy eating behaviour. More evidence is needed relating to how people with ID perceive their bodies in order to provide effectively targeted weight management programmes. AIMS: This study aimed to investigate whether people with ID have concepts for underweight, overweight and healthyweight, and whether they can apply these concepts to themselves. It also aimed to explore body perception bias through comparison of perceived self to independent figure ratings, and body dissatisfaction through perceived-ideal body discrepancy measurement and a series of open-ended questions. METHOD: Mixed methodology was used to explore body perception and body dissatisfaction in 40 young adults with ID compared to 48 individuals without ID. The Stunkard Figure Rating Scale assessed how participants would like to look, and their concepts of weight categories. RESULTS: Young adults with ID tend to hold positive beliefs about their bodies. Females with ID were likely to underestimate their body size. Individuals with ID understood what is meant by 'overweight', 'healthy-weight' and 'underweight' although these concepts were different to those without ID. Individuals with ID were unable to accurately apply these body size categories to themselves. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that individuals with ID will first need support to understand how concepts of body size apply to themselves in order to facilitate weight management.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2017 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2017.09.011