Obesity among adults with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities

Abstract

Introduction: Obesity is a common health problem among adults people with intellectual disabilities. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of obesity among people with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities by gender, age and degree of disability. Material and methods: The study group comprised 194 individuals with moderate and severe intellectual disability, aged 20 to 50 years. They were all participants of an occupational therapy workshop. Measurements of height and body weight, waist and hip circumference were conducted. BMI and WHR were calculated. A double-classification ANOVA was carried out to compare outcomes by age and gender. Analysed parameters were standardised by gender and age. Standardised variables were subject to comparative analysis (one-way ANOVA) with respect to the level of disability. Results: Over a half of the examined individuals exhibited excessive weight gain. Obesity was found in almost 30% of our female participants while among male participants this proportion equalled 19.4%. Waist circumference (p≤0.008) and WHR (p≤0.001) differed significantly between men and women, women had android obesity more often. Conclusions: Obesity appears to be a common problem among people with intellectual disabilities; to a greater extent among women. Gender was a factor determining the type of obesity since android obesity was more commonly diagnosed in women. The prevalence of obesity did not seem to be associated with age.

Analysis of the Diet Quality and Nutritional State of Children, Youth and Young Adults with an Intellectual Disability: A Multiple Case Study. Preliminary Polish Results

“…The results of this study showed that excess body weight was observed in 66.7% and obesity in 38.9% of the respondents (seven subjects). Other Polish study also indicated high prevalence of obesity among people with ID [9]. This is comparable to the results of the present research conducted among the younger population.…”

“…The present study did not find any differences in the occurrence of excess body weight depending on gender, basic diagnosis, or the severity of ID. Similarly, in the studies by Gawlik et al [9] and De et al [37], no correlation was noticed between the nutritional status and the grade of ID. In the study of Hoey et al [1], waist circumference was observed to increase with an increase in the degree of impairment, but no such correlation was found with BMI.…”

“…People with intellectual disability (ID) are characterized by a high prevalence of abnormal eating patterns, as well as a high risk of nutritional disorders [1][2][3][4][5][6], especially overweight and obesity [7][8][9][10]. In the general population, ID occurs at an average frequency of 1-3% and is caused by the interaction of many diverse genetic and environmental factors.…”

“…The energy balance in people with ID is influenced by the lower level of physical activity, resulting, among others, from disorders of the body structure, including defects in the skeletal and muscular systems. The nutritional status of this group is also more commonly affected by metabolic and hormonal disorders, in comparison to the general population [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. A factor increasing the risk of excess body weight in people with ID may also be the greater dimension of "screen time"understood as the overall amount of time spent sitting while using electronic devices with a screen-resulting from social isolation [10].…”