Impact of adulthood stage and social-environmental context on body mass index and physical activity of individuals with intellectual disability.
Adults with ID get heavier and move less as they age, but better community access can slow this decline.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Kelly and her team looked at a big database of adults with intellectual disability.
They checked body mass index and physical activity at different life stages.
They also looked at how community access and social factors changed these health numbers.
What they found
Older adults with ID had higher obesity rates and moved less than younger adults.
People with better community access weighed less and walked more.
The gap between young and old was bigger than in the general population.
How this fits with other research
Griffith et al. (2012) first showed that two-thirds of adults over 50 with ID have fitness levels like people 20-30 years older. Kelly's 2015 work adds that this decline starts earlier and depends on where people live.
Capio et al. (2013) found that adults with developmental disabilities want more active leisure but stay home instead. Kelly shows why this matters - staying home links directly to higher BMI and less movement.
Nordstrøm et al. (2013) used the same activity trackers and found adults with genetic syndromes average only 27 minutes of moderate activity daily. Kelly extends this to all adults with ID and shows community access can push that number up.
Why it matters
You can spot high-risk clients by age and living situation. Push for community-based programs and teach families how to build activity into daily routines. Even small increases in community participation can prevent the steep health decline seen in later adulthood.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Individuals with intellectual disability (ID) are at risk for obesity and physical inactivity. We analyzed a subset of 2009-2010 National Core Indicators (NCI) database to examine (1) the impact of three adulthood stages- younger (20-39 years), middle (40-59 years), and older (60 years and older) on Body Mass Index (BMI) and physical activity (PA); and (2) the relationship between social-environmental context (i.e., residence type, everyday choices, and community participation) and BMI and PA, with adjustment for individual characteristics of the adults with ID. Findings highlight the need to pay more attention to obesity by providing health education and emphasizing healthy choices. Results also suggest the importance of community participation as a way of promoting more physical activity.
Intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2015 · doi:10.1352/1934-9556-53.2.100