High prevalence of obesity in ambulatory children and adolescents with intellectual disability.
Obesity already hits one in three students with ID by high school—track BMI and treat nutrition like any other behavior goal.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Matson et al. (2009) checked the weight of school kids with intellectual disability in Scotland. They used a simple height-and-weight survey in special-education schools. All kids could walk on their own and were between 5 and 18 years old.
What they found
More than one in three students with ID were obese. That rate is far above national norms for kids the same age. The gap was biggest in high-school grades.
How this fits with other research
Smith et al. (2014) tracked US Special Olympians for five years and saw the same jump in obesity once kids hit middle school. The two studies line up: the extra weight shows up fast in early teens.
Grindle et al. (2012) and Hsieh et al. (2014) moved the lens to adults with ID. They found obesity stays high and is worst in women and in people with Down syndrome. The child snapshot from Matson et al. (2009) now looks like the start of a lifelong pattern.
Hove (2004) seems to disagree at first glance. That study showed adults with severe ID were often underweight, not obese. The key difference is disability level. Mild ID links to obesity; profound ID links to underweight. Same group, different risk.
Why it matters
If you serve students with mild-moderate ID, weigh them and plot BMI at least each term. Add food choice, drink swaps, and movement goals into behavior plans the same way you add any other skill. Catching the trend early can spare teens from diabetes, sleep apnea, and social exclusion later.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Obesity prevalence is unusually high among adults with intellectual disability (ID). There is limited and conflicting evidence on obesity prevalence among ambulatory children and adolescents with ID. The present study aimed to estimate obesity prevalence in this group and to compare with population prevalence. METHODS: Survey of nine schools (n = 206, 150 boys) for ambulatory children and adolescents with mild-moderate ID in Scotland in 2007. Obesity was defined as measured body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile relative to UK 1990 reference data, and using the international definition based on BMI. Obesity prevalence observed was compared against Scottish population data on obesity prevalence from the most recent nationally representative survey. RESULTS: Obesity prevalence (at or above 95th percentile for BMI) was 36%, and was significantly higher among those attending secondary schools compared with primary schools (P < 0.01). Prevalence of obesity was significantly higher than in the general paediatric population in both boys and girls (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggests that that obesity may be very prevalent among ambulatory children and adolescents with ID, and that increased obesity risk may begin in childhood.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2009 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2009.01200.x