Primary Validation of the Submandibular Skinfold as an Anthropometric Measurement of Cardiometabolic Risk in People with Intellectual Disabilities

Abstract

The accumulation of body fat is an important cardiometabolic risk factor; however, there is no consensus about which measure is more reliable for the assessment of cardiometabolic risk in people with intellectual disabilities. The aim of the present study was to primarily validate the submandibular skinfold as an anthropometric measurement of cardiometabolic risk in children, adolescents, and adults with intellectual disabilities, using a cross-sectional study made up of 131 people (67.2% men) with mild and moderate intellectual disability. The cardiometabolic risk indicators used were: body mass index (kg/m2), neck circumference (cm), waist circumference (cm), calf circumference (cm) and waist-to-height ratio. Moderate correlations were demonstrated between the submandibular skinfold measure and the anthropometric measurements analyzed in the three age categories, showing the highest correlation (r = 0.70) between the submandibular skinfold and BMI in the adolescent group and waist-to-height ratio in adults. The implementation of the submandibular skinfold measurement is suggested as an easy, fast, and minimally invasive anthropometric measurement as part of the physical and nutritional evaluation for the assessment of cardiometabolic risk in people with intellectual disabilities.

The Influence of Physical Activity Regime on Body Composition in Teenagers With and Without Intellectual Disabilities

“…The research suggests that physical activity in and outside school has a positive influence on teenagers' physical, psychological, and social evolution. More precisely, it has been proven that physical activity enhances the quality of life (Poitras et al, 2016), decrease the risk of disease, increase mental and emotional wellbeing (Ferrero-Hernández et al, 2023;Owen et al, 2016;Zaragas et al, 2023), improve school performance and motor skills (Aksovic et al, 2023), increase the frequency of prosocial behaviours (Sakalidis et al, 2023) and improve self-concept ( van Tuyll van Serooskerken et al, 2022).…”

The Influence of Physical Activity Regime on Body Composition in Teenagers With and Without Intellectual Disabilities

“…The research suggests that physical activity in and outside school positively impacts teenagers' physical, psychological, and social development. More precisely, physical activity has been proven to improve the quality of life [9], decrease the risk of disease, increase mental and emotional well-being [10][11][12], improve school performance and motor skills [13], increase the frequency of prosocial behaviours [14] and improve self-concept [15].…”