Diet Quality of Overweight and Obese Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities as Measured by the Healthy Eating Index-2005.
Overweight adults with IDD eat alarmingly poor diets, and simple tracking plus small food goals can start to fix it.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team looked at 49 overweight adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
They used a food diary and a tool called the Healthy Eating Index to score each person's diet.
All adults lived in the community, not in group homes or hospitals.
What they found
Diets scored only 46 out of 100 points. That is well below the passing mark.
Fruit, whole grains, and key vitamins were almost missing.
These adults ate more sugar and salt than the average American.
How this fits with other research
Petrovic et al. (2016) studied Dutch inpatients and found that poor diet raised the risk of metabolic syndrome.
Bartlo et al. (2011) showed that exercise helps adults with ID get stronger and feel better.
Together, these papers paint a clear picture: diet is bad, and the fix needs both food and movement.
Dudley et al. (2019) warns that U.S. health surveys often miss adults with IDD, so the problem may be even bigger than we think.
Why it matters
You can start a food log today. Track what your client eats for three days. Look for gaps in fruit, whole grains, and vegetables. Share the log with the dietitian and set one small goal, like adding one apple a day.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Little research has been conducted to examine diet quality of overweight and obese adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in the United States. The purpose of this study was to determine diet quality, as measured by the Healthy Eating Index-2005 (HEI-2005), of overweight and obese adults with IDD. METHODS: Data were obtained from community-dwelling overweight individuals. 3-day food records were administered and completed with assistance by staff or family members and then reviewed by a dietitian. All records were analyzed and HEI-2005 was calculated using NDSR output. RESULTS: 178 records were analyzed from 70 subjects (28 male, 42 female; mean age 33.9 ±11.5 years). The mean energy intake was 1928 ± 891 kcals and the mean total HEI-2005 score was 46.7± 11.5. Participants scored the lowest in total fruits, whole grains, dark green and orange vegetables, non-hydrogenated vegetable oils, and sodium. Both male and females had diets deficient in fiber, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, folate, and potassium. Additionally men were deficient in vitamin K, and women were deficient in calcium. CONCLUSIONS: Overweight and Obese adults with IDD had a lower HEI-2005 score compared to the general population and are at an increased risk of poor diet quality and nutritional deficiencies that could contribute to the development of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and other health complications.
Journal of developmental and physical disabilities, 2013 · doi:10.1352/0047-6765(2005)43<1:bwsaaw>2.0.co;2