US study finds high levels of obesity in women with learning disability, Down syndrome, and milder learning disability

healthy diet

In this US study, the authors looked at the prevalence of obesity in people with learning disability and those in the general U.S. adult population without learning disability. They found that adults with learning disability did not differ from the general population in prevalence of obesity. However, when they combined obesity and overweight they found that prevalence was lower for males with learning disability than for the general population but in women the prevalence was similar. They found higher prevalence of obesity among women with learning disability, those with Down syndrome, and people with milder learning disability. They also found that there were differences in the prevalence of obesity in different living arrangements. For example, those living in institutional settings had the lowest prevalence of obesity and those living in their own home had the highest prevalence. However, when level learning disability was taken into account, differences among living arrangements were reduced. For those with milder learinng disability, some differences still remained significant. Overweight and obesity among adults with intellectual disabilities who use intellectual disability/developmental disability services in 20 U.S. states,  Stancliffe R et al., in  American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 116, 6, 401-418.

Share on Facebook Tweet this on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Google+
Mark as read
Create a personal elf note about this blog
Profile photo of John Northfield

John Northfield

After qualifying as a social worker, John worked in community learning disability teams before getting involved in a number of long-stay hospital closure programmes, working to develop individual plans for people moving into their own homes. He worked for BILD, helping to develop the Quality Network and was editorial lead for the NHS electronic library learning disabilities specialist collection. This led him to found the Learning Disabilities Elf site with Andre Tomlin as a way of making the evidence accessible to practitioners in health and social care. Most recently he has worked as part of Mencap's national quality team and also been involved in a number of national website developments, including the General Medical Council's learning disabilities site.

More posts

Follow me here –