Overweight and obesity among children with developmental disabilities

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children with developmental disabilities attending a metropolitan Diagnosis and Assessment Service.

A retrospective chart review was carried out for 98 children (67 male) aged 2-18 years. Data on age, sex, weight, height, and severity of intellectual disability or global developmental delay were collected from medical records. Body mass index (BMI, weight/height2) was calculated, and overweight and obesity defined using standard international criteria.

Data indicated that 24% of the children were overweight and a further 15% were obese (i.e., a total of 40% either overweight or obese), which is significantly higher than the prevalence rate for Australian school children in the New South Wales Schools Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey (SPANS) 2004, which found that 17% were overweight (p = .05) and 6% were obese (p = .0003) (i.e., 23% either overweight or obese, p = .0001).

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is higher among children with developmental disabilities than in the general population. Community-based studies with larger sample sizes are required to confirm this finding. The results also highlight the need to develop health care strategies for the prevention, early identification and management of excess weight gain for this group.