Study: Incidence of Obesity Greater Among Disabled Adults

The incidence of obesity among disabled adults is significantly greater than that of the general population, according to researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

"Our research showed that adults with sensory, physical and mental health conditions are at increased risk of obesity," said Dr. Christina Wee of the Division of General Medicine and Primary Care at Beth Israel and senior author of the study. "We in the field of public health need to develop strategies to help these patients in their weight-control efforts."

Researchers examined data from 145,000 individuals taken from U.S. government surveys. Of this group, nearly 26,000 had one or more potentially disabling heath conditions, which were classified into six groups: blind/low vision, deaf/hard of hearing, lower extremity mobility difficulty, upper extremity mobility difficulty, hand dexterity difficulty, and serious mental illness.

The analysis showed that nearly 25 percent of the people with disabilities were obese, compared with about 15 percent of the adults without a disability, according to the report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The highest risk of obesity was found in the adults with lower limb mobility difficulties. This same group was also not likely to have received exercise counseling from their physician, according to Wee.

"This aspect of our findings was particularly troubling," said Wee. "Exercise is very important for weight maintenance among patients with lower mobility disabilities. Without exercise, you're often left with a 'vicious cycle,' in that inactivity contributes to obesity, obesity exacerbates disability and disability impedes a person's ability to exercise."

The authors concluded that better clinical guidelines are needed to help physicians promote weight control and exercise among their disabled patients.

Other sources: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Journal of the American Medical Association