Overweight and obesity in youth with developmental disabilities: a call to action.
Youth with developmental disabilities face higher obesity risk, so screen early and run multi-part programs, not exercise alone.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The authors wrote a narrative review. They looked at past studies on weight in youth with developmental disabilities.
They focused on kids and teens with intellectual disability or autism. The paper urges action but reports no new data.
What they found
The review shows youth with developmental disabilities carry extra obesity risk. The authors call for early, team-based weight care.
How this fits with other research
Granich et al. (2016) and Healy et al. (2019) give numbers. One in three youth with autism is overweight or obese. Odds jump 1.5 times for autistic teens and triple for severe cases.
Bertapelli et al. (2016) warn exercise-only plans fail for Down syndrome. Fahmie et al. (2013) tested a 10-week diet-plus-exercise class. Kids ate less candy and walked farther, but BMI stayed the same. The call for multi-part programs stands.
Matson et al. (2009) saw 36% obesity in Scottish students with ID. Smith et al. (2014) tracked Special Olympians and found the gap widens after age eight. These early signals line up with the review’s alarm.
Why it matters
Check BMI at every visit. Pair nutrition goals with activity and parent training. One quick win: swap edible reinforcers for non-food tokens and add a 5-minute movement break after each table task.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Elevated weight status has become a leading problem for adults and children around the world, regardless of the presence or lack of disability. Youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities are more vulnerable than the typical population to overweight in recent decades, and these individuals often experience overweight and obesity at higher rates than their typically developing peers. Young people with disabilities have many circumstances, beyond those of typically developing children, which increase their risk for greater body mass. These include greater medication use, having syndromes with obesity as an associated symptom, and possessing altered eating habits related to their disability. We discuss obesity-related health risks, possible weight management options, recommendations for weight maintenance or loss, and future research. Although most professionals who work with youth having developmental disabilities do not have great expertise in nutrition and weight management, we must collectively recognise the importance of weight issues for quality of life of these individuals and work with them in maintaining healthy lifestyles. Intervention options, both for caregivers and for health professionals, are discussed.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2014 · doi:10.1111/jir.12090