Increased Rates of Obesity Among Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

Little information is available on obesity rates among adults with intellectual disabilities living in the community. Generally the research on adults with intellectual disabilities has indicated obesity rates similar to that of the general population, if not higher. However, most of these studies only looked at people living in formal residential settings and did not include national samples. In less restrictive settings, there may be a higher risk of unhealthy habits, resulting in greater weight gain. Some research evidence indicates that adults with intellectual disabilities have a sedentary lifestyle and consume high fat diets, which can lead to obesity and an increased risk of chronic health conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Hence, the lack of body weight status information of adults who live in the community may be a fundamental flaw in our understanding of the health status among persons with intellectual disabilities.

National Data Collection

In order to fill this information gap, we analyzed the 1985 to 2000 National Health Interview Survey, an annual cross-sectional household sample survey on the health status of the non-institutionalized American population. Data were collected through a personal interview at each sampled household. All adults with intellectual disabilities who were present at the time of interview could respond for themselves. Other adult household members provided information about adults who were not present or were incapable of responding by themselves due to physical or cognitive limitations. Survey participants who reported mental retardation as a cause of limitation were labeled as persons with intellectual disabilities.

Rates of Obesity over Time

Figure 1 shows a national level prevalence estimate of obesity among adults from 1985 to 2000 broken down by the presence of intellectual disability.

The percentage of adults with intellectual disabilities who were obese has increased from 19.4% in 1985 to 34.6% in 2000.

The obesity prevalence for adults with intellectual disability was higher than that of the general population across all times. For the 1997-2000 period, 34.6% of adults with I/DD were obese compared to only 20.6% of the general population.

With the high rates of obesity, individuals with intellectual disabilities living in the community may be at risk of developing chronic health conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases, arthritis, and respiratory diseases. This points to the need for initiating health behavior education and community-based health promotion programs for individuals with developmental disabilities.

Source: Yamaki, K. “Body weight status among adults with intellectual disability in the community.” Mental Retardation 43 (2005): 1-10.