Food Insecurity and Health Outcomes of Children With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in the United States.

Dhuliawala et al. (2023) asked a simple question: how many U.S. kids with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) live in homes that run out of food?

They pulled national survey data on children with IDD and looked at health, behavior, and daily-living skills.

No lab tests—just parent answers and statistics.

Food insecurity hit 43 % of the IDD group—far above the national child average.

When the fridge was empty, these kids also had poorer overall health, more problem behavior, and bigger trouble with everyday tasks like dressing or brushing teeth.

Having both IDD and food insecurity stacked the problems higher than either one alone.

Emerson et al. (2007) saw the same pattern in Britain: poverty explained about one-third of the extra health problems seen in kids with intellectual disability.

Friedman (2020) adds that the more severe the disability, the fewer supports families get—so hunger may be part of a wider support gap.

Yen et al. (2010) looked at Taiwanese teens with ID and found 41 % ate less-healthy food; Samina’s U.S. numbers now show why—many families simply can’t buy enough food, healthy or not.

Together the papers trace a line: disability raises living costs, budgets snap, nutrition slips, and health drops.

If you serve kids with IDD, screen for food insecurity first. A simple two-question hunger screener takes one minute. When the answer is “yes,” link the family to SNAP, WIC, or the local food bank before you target behaviors or teach daily living skills. A fed brain learns better, and a fed family stresses less—your ABA program moves faster when basic needs are met.