Body mass index of adults with intellectual disability participating in Special Olympics by world region

Abstract

Our findings demonstrate that adult Special Olympics participants have high levels of overweight and obesity; particularly among women and those from North America. It is crucial that those who work with, care for, coach and live with adults with ID who participate in Special Olympics increase efforts to promote healthy weight status.

Body mass index and waist circumference of Latin American adult athletes with intellectual disability

“…and United States and Canada; 1,25,26 our data generally show lower levels of overweight/obesity. However, we found similar levels of overweight (BMI ≥ 25) compared to previous studies of Special Olympics participants who were not from the USA 10,27 or Europe. 10 The prevalence of underweight was similar to previous studies of adults with intellectual disability in Latin America, but dissimilar to international studies that demonstrate that men with intellectual disabilities have higher rates of underweight.…”

“…However, we found similar levels of overweight (BMI ≥ 25) compared to previous studies of Special Olympics participants who were not from the USA 10,27 or Europe. 10 The prevalence of underweight was similar to previous studies of adults with intellectual disability in Latin America, but dissimilar to international studies that demonstrate that men with intellectual disabilities have higher rates of underweight. 10,19,[28][29][30] Rates of abdominal obesity for participants in this study appear to be generally lower than previous studies of adults with intellectual disability.…”

“…[5][6][7][8] However, the degree to which adults with intellectual disabilities in Latin America experience overweight/obesity has rarely been examined and rates of abdominal obesity have not been examined. With the exception of one previous study which described the BMI status of Latin American Special Olympics participants for the period 2003 -2009 as part of a larger international sample, 10 studies of BMI among adults with intellectual disability in Latin America have been generally small in sample size and derived from single country samples, specifically: Argentina, 11 Brazil, 6,12 and Mexico. 13 Evidence from those studies indicates that approximately 40% of individuals have BMI scores in the normal range.…”

“…Using a BMI cut-off of < 20, da Silva and Silva's 12 found that 23.1% of women and 37.8% of men were underweight in a small Brazilian sample (n = 76); whereas other studies in Latin America using a of BMI < 18.5 as the cut-off for underweight, reported much lower rates of underweight, specifically: 2.9% in Argentina, 11 7% in Brazil, 6 and 7.3 and 8.3% among female and male Latin American Special Olympics participants, respectively. 10 Rates of overweight and obesity among adults with intellectual disability in Latin America also show considerable variability. The rate of obesity (BMI ≥ 30) has been reported as low as 5% in a small sample (n = 42) of 13 -30 year-old males and females in Mexico 13 to 29% in a larger sample (n = 200) of both sexes aged 5 -53 years in Brazil.…”

“…13 Evidence from those studies indicates that approximately 40% of individuals have BMI scores in the normal range. 6,[10][11][12] Rates of underweight of individuals with intellectual disability in Latin America show considerable variation from study to study. In part, this may result from the use of different BMI cut-offs to establish the different weight categories.…”