NCPAD:Health Promotion: Nutrition for Persons with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities

Nutrition for Persons with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities

People with intellectual/developmental disabilities often have a higher tendency of being obese than people in the general population. For ideas on how to improve nutrition in persons with Down syndrome, see the NCPAD factsheet at http://www.ncpad.org/nutrition/fact_sheet.php?sheet=197&view=all.

General Recommendations for maintaining or losing weight include:

Eat a diet low in saturated fat. See the American Dietetic Association factsheet at http://www.ncpad.org/newsletter/newsletter.php?letter=37§ion=503#11 for a primer on fats and oils.
Eat a diet filled with high-fiber, whole-grain carbohydrates. Healthy carbohydrate sources include grains (brown rice or pasta, whole-grain breads/cereals -- one slice of high fiber bread can have as much as 4 grams of fiber), beans, fruits, and some vegetables, which are high in fiber, and have plenty of vitamins and minerals (http://www.ncpad.org/nutrition/fact_sheet.php?sheet=263&view=all; http://www.ncpad.org/nutrition/fact_sheet.php?sheet=296&view=all).
- Watch portion control (http://www.ncpad.org/nutrition/fact_sheet.php?sheet=91&view=all).
- Read labels to choose foods that comprise a healthful diet (http://www.ncpad.org/nutrition/fact_sheet.php?sheet=94&view=all). For example, be aware of the distinction of the following keyword labels:
  - fat-free: less than .5 grams of fat per serving
  - low-fat: 3 grams of fat (or less) per serving
  - lean: less than 10 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, and no more than 95 milligrams of cholesterol per serving
  - light (lite): one-third less calories or no more than half the fat of the higher-calorie, higher-fat version; or no more than half the sodium of the higher-sodium version
  - cholesterol-free: less than 2 milligrams of cholesterol and 2 grams (or less) of saturated fat per serving

Please send your comments and feedback to Valerie Lawson at vlawson@uic.edu.

This fact sheet was last updated on 07-21-2006.