Evaluation of a Comprehensive Health-Wellness Intervention on Weight and BMI of Residential Students with Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Abstract

Many children and youth with neurodevelopmental disorders and intellectual and developmental disabilities are overweight and obese, presenting with health risks and poor quality of life. In this study we incorporated a non-concurrent multiple baseline design to evaluate a health and wellness intervention that targeted weight and body mass index (BMI) of five students (11-19 years old) attending a residential school. Intervention was designed and evaluated by a multidisciplinary team comprised of a dietician, nurses, physicians, behavior analysts, educators, and information technology specialists. The key areas of intervention were diet-nutrition, exercise-physical activity, health informatics monitoring, and care provider training. All of the students were classified as obese upon admission to the residential school, achieved normative BMI measures (non-obese) for age and gender within 2-4 months of intervention, and maintained weight loss during periods lasting 16-30 months. Issues of intervention implementation, clinical recommendations, and future research are discussed.

Evaluation of a Pilot Healthy Eating and Exercise Program for Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual Disabilities

“…Having an advisory committee to help guide programming efforts and select study measures may enhance the “fit” of the research and assessment tools to the needs of the young adults. It would be advisable to have an advisory committee review other programs, which have been successful in improving weight loss and health of individuals with developmental disabilities (e.g., Bedard et al, 2021 ; Myers et al, 2018 ; Shlesinger et al, 2018 ; Singh et al, 2008 ). Incorporating ideas from other successful programs has the potential to strengthen education, and subsequently behavior change.…”

“…However, due to a lack of accessible education about healthy living, limited opportunities for physical activity, and resistance to changing eating habits, it may be difficult for young adults with ASD and ID to lose weight. Interventions for young adults with developmental disabilities have shown success in improving health, changing eating patterns, and facilitating weight loss (e.g., Bedard et al, 2021 ; Myers et al, 2018 ; Shlesinger et al, 2018 ; Singh et al, 2008 ).…”

Effects of a peer-mediated performance improvement intervention on recording of child well-body checks by educational care-providers

“…There has been increasing interest in the health and wellness of persons with intellectual disabilities (IDs) (Anderson et al, 2013; Luiselli, 2016a, 2016b). Research has focused on several areas such as increasing exercise-physical activity (LaLonde et al, 2014; Lang et al, 2010), reducing weight and body mass index (BMI) (De et al, 2009; Fleming, 2011; Shlesinger et al, 2018), eating nutritious foods (Singh et al, 2008), and maintaining personal hygiene (Mattson et al, 2016). In addition to symptom-focused intervention, multidisciplinary health providers stress treatment efforts aimed at risk reduction and primary prevention (Rimmer, 1999; Seekins et al, 2005).…”