Background People with intellectual disabilities (ID) experience more health problems and have different lifestyle change needs, compared with the general population.Aims To improve lifestyle change interventions for people with ID, this review examined how behaviour change techniques (BCTs) were applied in interventions aimed at physical activity, nutrition or physical activity and nutrition, and described their quality. Methods and ProceduresAfter a broad search and detailed selection process, 45 studies were included in the review. For coding BCTs, the CALO-RE taxonomy was used. To assess the quality of the interventions, the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale was used. Extracted data included general study characteristics and intervention characteristics. Outcomes and ResultsAll interventions used BCTs, although theory-driven BCTs were rarely used.The most frequently used BCTs were 'provide information on consequences of behaviour in general'and 'plan social support/social change'. Most studies were of low quality and a theoretical framework was often missing. Conclusion and implications This review shows that BCTs are frequently applied in lifestyle changeinterventions. To further improve effectiveness, these lifestyle change interventions could benefit from using a theoretical framework, a detailed intervention description and an appropriate and reliable intervention design which is tailored to people with ID. What this paper addsSo far, lifestyle change interventions for people with ID do not seem to be very effective: not only are well-designed studies scarce but the description of the intervention content is often lacking sufficient detail to replicate or learn from the studies. This review aims to explore the use of behaviour change techniques (BCTs) in lifestyle interventions for people with ID. We identify key concepts, types of evidence and gaps in research, and provide recommendations for future research studies. Therefore, this review adds to existing knowledge by identifying how to improve the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions via the inclusion of BCTs.

Some effectiveness was found for lifestyle change interventions for people with intellectual disabilities. However, the effects were only statistically significant for waist circumference, so current lifestyle change interventions may not be optimally tailored to meet the needs of people with intellectual disabilities.

Background Promotion of a healthy lifestyle for individuals with mild intellectual disabilities is important. However, the suitability of behaviour change techniques (BCTs) for these individuals is still unclear. Methods A Delphi study was performed using the Coventry, Aberdeen & LOndon – REfined (CALO‐RE) taxonomy of BCTs (n = 40). Health professionals (professional caregivers, behavioural scientists, health professionals, intellectual disability physicians) participated in an online survey to determine whether BCTs were suitable or unsuitable. Comments from participants were analysed qualitatively. Results Consensus was reached for 25 BCTs out of 40.The most suitable BCTs were barrier identification (97%), set graded tasks (97%) and reward effort towards behaviour (95%). No significant differences were found for intergroup effects. Conclusion Regardless of their position and education level, health professionals reached consensus about the suitability of BCTs for individuals with mild intellectual disabilities. Increased use of these BCTs could result in more effective promotion of a healthy lifestyle.

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