Nutrition knowledge, behaviors, and body weight correlations of young adults with intellectual disabilities before and after a community-based intervention

Young adults with intellectual disabilities have a higher risk of obesity compared with the general population. This analysis used a subset of data from the study, Yes We Can: An Overweight Reduction and Healthy Lifestyle Improvement Program for Young Adults with Intellectual Disabilities. Young adults with intellectual disabilities aged 18-35 completed a 12 week intervention as participants (n=11) or acted as controls (n=11). Body weight, nutrition knowledge, and attitudes toward healthy eating were assessed at pre- and postintervention for both groups. Baseline quantitative and dichotomous variables tested with chi-squared and independent samples t-tests were not significantly different. After the 3 month program, paired samples t-test and analysis of variance indicated that neither group showed significant improvements in the total scores for the nutrition knowledge and attitude surveys. However, participants in the intervention increased their social and environmental supports for nutrition (p <0.05), as compared to controls (p=.208). These results suggest that the education portion of the intervention was unable to increase nutrition knowledge or attitudes significantly, though it did help participants find new sources of support for a healthy lifestyle. In conclusion, other methods or curriculum may need to be used in this population for nutrition education.