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Community Health and Nutrition Screening for Special Olympics Athletes
Abstract
Since 1961, Special Olympics has provided sports training and athletic competition for people with mental retardation. A recent addition to these Olympics has been the Healthy Athletes Program, designed to help the athletes improve their health and fitness, leading to enhanced sports experiences and well being. Original health services included dental and eye screening. In 2002, Special Olympics Delaware piloted a Wellness Park to add nutrition, blood pressure, and flexibility screening. Faculty from a university's health college trained discipline-specific students to conduct the screenings. Thirty nutrition and dietetics students measured height, weight, waist circumference, and calculated body mass index (BMI) for the athletes. Figures and risk-assessments were recorded on a "health report card." Two hundred ten athletes attended the nutrition screening. Ages ranged from 8 to 63 years; 81 percent males and 19 percent females. According to BMI standards, 32 percent of the athletes were overweight; 17 percent were obese. Twenty-five percent of adult males and 73 percent of adult females had a high risk waist circumference. Athletes at high risk for obesity-related diseases were referred to their primary physician for follow up. Nutrition education handouts included a simplified Food Guide Pyramid, tips for healthy eating in restaurants, 5 A Day information, and healthful hydration guides. Approximately 1,250 athletes participate in Special Olympics Delaware each year, providing a great opportunity to do some much needed health screening and improve access to health care for this often neglected population.
... 10 The prevalence of underweight was similar to previous studies of adults with intellectual disability in Latin America, but dissimilar to international studies that demonstrate that men with intellectual disabilities have higher rates of underweight. 10,19,[28][29][30] Rates of abdominal obesity for participants in this study appear to be generally lower than previous studies of adults with intellectual disability. The mean WC reported in a USA sample of men and women with Down syndrome was 100.4cm and 104.1cm, respectively; 5 whereas in this study mean WC measures were 83.7cm for men and 80.5cm for women. ...
... Our findings show that women were more likely to be overweight, obese, and have abdominal obesity than men. These sex-based differences are similar to those documented in smaller scale studies conducted in the USA, UK, and South Africa, 1,2,19,22,23 and two larger studies from the USA 28,32 and an earlier international study with Special Olympics participants. 10 The logistic regression analyses also revealed that age was a significant predictor of overweight, obesity, and abdominal obesity. ...
Objectives:
To examine both body mass index (BMI) status and waist circunference (WC) in a large international sample of adult Special Olympics participants from Latin America. It also explored the association of age and sex with obesity in this population.
Materials and methods:
BMI and WC records from a total of 4174 (2683 male and 1491 female) participant records from the Special Olympics International Health Promotion database were examined.
Results:
The prevalence of overweight and obesity was quite high (i.e. > 40%), but generally lower than studies involving adults with intellectual disabilities from Europe and the USA. Chi-square analyses revealed that both increasing age and being female significantly predicted levels of overweight, obesity, and WC.
Conclusions:
These results suggest that efforts need to be made to prevent and reduce rates of overweight and obesity among Latin American Special Olympics participants, particularly women.
... High rates of obesity (de Winter, Bastiaanse, Hilgenkamp, Evenhuis, & Echteld, 2012;Emerson, 2005;Sohler, Lubetkin, Levy, Soghomonian, & Rimmerman, 2009;Stedman & Leland, 2010;Temple, Foley, & Lloyd, 2014) and underweight (Bhaumik, Watson, Thorp, Tyrer, & McGrother, 2008;Emerson, 2005) have been documented among adults with ID. Rates of overweight and obesity are particularly high among women with ID (Cotugna & Vickery, 2003;Melville, Cooper, McGrother, Thorp, & Collacott, 2005;Melville et al., 2008;Temple et al., 2014) whereas the prevalence of underweight appears to be higher among men (Cotugna & Vickery, 2003;Hove, 2004;Molteno, Smit, Mills, & Huskisson, 2000;Moore, McGillivray, & Illingworth, 2004;Temple et al., 2014). ...
... High rates of obesity (de Winter, Bastiaanse, Hilgenkamp, Evenhuis, & Echteld, 2012;Emerson, 2005;Sohler, Lubetkin, Levy, Soghomonian, & Rimmerman, 2009;Stedman & Leland, 2010;Temple, Foley, & Lloyd, 2014) and underweight (Bhaumik, Watson, Thorp, Tyrer, & McGrother, 2008;Emerson, 2005) have been documented among adults with ID. Rates of overweight and obesity are particularly high among women with ID (Cotugna & Vickery, 2003;Melville, Cooper, McGrother, Thorp, & Collacott, 2005;Melville et al., 2008;Temple et al., 2014) whereas the prevalence of underweight appears to be higher among men (Cotugna & Vickery, 2003;Hove, 2004;Molteno, Smit, Mills, & Huskisson, 2000;Moore, McGillivray, & Illingworth, 2004;Temple et al., 2014). ...
Many low- and middle-income countries have experienced an epidemic of obesity in the last few decades. However, no studies have examined the relationship between country economic status and weight status among adults with ID. This study compared the prevalence of underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obesity among adult Special Olympics participants by country economic status. A total of 19,295 (men, n = 12,037) measured height and weight records were available from the Special Olympics International (SOI) Health Promotion database. The 159 countries in the database were recoded according to the World Bank's classification of country economic status as: low-income, lower middle-income, upper middle-income, and high-income. Body mass index (BMI; kg/m2) prevalence rates were calculated for underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obesity for men and women by economic status. Odds ratios, adjusted for age and sex, were used to examine differences in BMI by country economic status. Overall, 31.9% of SOI participants from low-income economies, 48.6% from lower middle-income, 43.6% from upper middle-income, and 66.0% from high-income economies had BMI indices outside of the normal range. For the low-income countries, the proportion of underweight and overweight/obesity was similar (17.2% and 14.7%, respectively). For the other three levels of economy, participants with BMI levels outside the normal range were largely overweight/obese, rather than underweight. Women, older participants, and those from higher-income countries were much more likely to be overweight/obese. Considerably, more research on the key behaviors associated with BMI status and the extent to which environments (economic, social, and physical) are obesogenic is needed to explain these differences and to begin to design interventions that can be both targeted for persons with ID and coherently implemented across sectors and settings.
... All'interno del gruppo DIS è stata rilevata in 1 soggetto una FM superiore al 25%, valore limite per la definizione di sovrappeso, mentre solo 3 soggetti hanno presentato una FM inferiore al 18%, valore corrispondente a una popolazione di soggetti sedentari normodotati di pari età (4). Analogamente, il BMI medio del gruppo DIS è complessivamente indicativo di uno stato di soprappeso (5). Nel gruppo DIS sono stati riscontrati 5 casi su 9 di sovrappeso severo (BMI >25 kg/m 2 ) e un solo caso di sottopeso (BMI=17.9 ...
Aim. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cardio-pulmonary adaptations during training and during a match of the regular season in a mentally disabled soccer players' team, in order to better organize a training protocol specific to this disability and to provide information for a more accurate clinical decision about the agonistic practice ability carried out in the Sports Medical Centres. Methods. Nine mentally disabled male subjects (group DIS) and seven able-bodied soccer players (group NOR) matched for age, BMI and years of training volunteered the study. Heart rate (FC), oxygen uptake (V̇O 2) and pulmonary ventilation (VE) were monitored either on field, during 1) a session of athletic training; 2) a simulated game-training protocol; 3) a match of the regular season, or in a laboratory setting; 4) during a submaximal ergometric incremental test. A body composition analysis and a standard spirometry were also performed during the laboratory session. Results. Overall, with respect to NOR subjects DIS athletes were overweight and showed an increased fat mass. During simulated training protocol, DIS group reached lower values of FC, VE and V̇O 2 than NOR group. During training and match, FC in the DIS group were similar, and did not seem to be influenced by the surrounding contest. Conversely, during the laboratory incremental ergometric test, DIS group showed higher values of VE and V̇O 2 than NOR group at each submaximal load. Conclusion. Soccer training for mentally disabled players should be mainly centred on aerobic exercises (i.e. 50% V̇O 2max) with a prevalent ludic component. The use of a heart rate monitor during training to control cardiopulmonary effort should be recommended.
... The Special Olympics is a year-round sports training and athletic competition program for people with intellectual disability (ID). Although the program was founded in 1968, a recent addition has been the Healthy Athletes initiative, which was designed to help the athletes improve their health and fitness and enhance their sports experiences and overall well-being [1]. ...
... Data from the screenings are entered into a web-based information management system. Athletes and their caregivers are informed about the results/diagnosis either verbally on site (Woodhouse et al., 2003) or by a wellness report card sent after the games (Cotugna & Vickery, 2003). ...
Background
The Special Olympics Pennsylvania Summer Games attract over 2000 athletes each year. Volunteer medical staff ensures their safety throughout this period. However, few studies have examined the incidence of orthopedic injury and sickness in this group, especially with a large sample.
Objective
Identify the incidence of orthopedic injury and Illness at the Special Olympics Pennsylvania Summer Games based on demographic criteria and identify the incidence of transports required for advanced care.
Methods
Data was collected from logs provided by Special Olympics Pennsylvania. The data were analyzed and stratified by gender, age, sport, and type of encounter. We summarized the data and compared it to data from other years and the average.
Results
An average of 1971 athletes competed annually. On average, 10% (N=144) of competitors required medical care. Males comprised 58.2% (N = 837) of encounters, females 33.6% (N = 483), and in 8.1% (N = 117) of encounters gender was not identified/recorded. The mean age of participants was 29 years of age (range from 10 to 83). 56.6% (N= 813) of encounters required first aid management only. Injuries made up 31.7% (N = 455) of total encounters, and 11.8% (N=169) of encounters were classified as illnesses. Basketball was the sport with the most injuries, 49.5% (N = 711). An average of 9.8 transports was required annually.
Conclusions
Special Olympics athletes suffer the same injuries as regular athletes, but they are also prone to various medical disorders that regular athletes are not.
Background
Studies have shown that individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) exhibit a high prevalence of obesity and poor-quality diet. The population of individuals with ID include athletes that participate in Special Olympics.
Aim
In order to develop appropriate educational programs for the Special Olympics Athletes in Connecticut, a baseline of the various health and nutrition variables needed to be established by examining the existing data in the Special Olympics International’s Health Promotion database.
Methods
A retrospective analysis was performed using data from the Special Olympics International (SOI) Health Promotion database. The study population included athletes at least 20 years of age (n=47,932) and divided into sub-groups of non-USA, USA and Connecticut (CT). The data was provided by SOI to the research team in a de-identified form covering the time frame of 2014-2019. The existing data was originally collected by trained SO volunteers and included age, height, weight, bone mineral density (BMD), blood pressure (BP) variables and a health habits questionnaire. In addition to basic descriptive statistics, analysis was performed using Chi Squared Analysis and ANOVA with post-hoc. A significance level of p value ≤0.05 was used for all analyses.
Results
Results show a high prevalence of obesity, high blood pressure, low bone mineral density and a poor-quality diet across all groups. CT athletes were older and had a more even distribution by gender compared to the non-USA and USA groups. CT athletes had a high prevalence of obesity, HTN, and low BMD, as well as, a poorquality diet reflected by high frequency of consumption of sweetened beverages, fast food and snack food. CT athletes also did not consume the recommended daily servings of calcium containing foods or fruits and vegetables.
Conclusion
This data will be used to develop educational programs that will help to improve the overall health of Special Olympics Athletes in Connecticut.
A correct diet is essential for athletes with disabilities and an aid for sport and exercise, which have long been recognised as important component in the therapy and rehabilitation of people with disabilities. Dietary recommendations for athletes with disabilities should not differ from those for able-bodied athletes and should be related to the level of physical activity and body composition of the athletes. Assessment of body composition of athletes with disabilities is essential, specially in individuals with a great loss of metabolically active tissue and an asymmetric distribution of fat between the upper and lower part of the spinal lesion. Several methodologies for assessing body composition are available. DEXA (Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry) is widely used with athletes with disabilities too, even if other methodologies such as skinfold calipers, anthropometric measures and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) are more commonly used in sport science because they are non-invasive, cheaper, more accessible and can be consequently easy tracked over time. In athletes with spinal cord injury has been observed a lower total and resting energy expenditure, up to 30%, than in healthy control. Nowadays no prediction equations to estimate resting metabolic rate in athletes with disabilities are available, therefore energy expenditure is commonly assessed using indirect calorimetry. In athletes with disabilities the total energy expenditure should account in most part for the energy expended in physical activity, often greater than that of resting metabolic rate. In order to avoid malnutrition, dietary issues for athletes with disabilities should be fine tuned to the nature of their disability and any impact the disability may have on their metabolism. Special nutrition recommendations are needed since individuals with disabilities are at major risk of medical complication such as: epithelial wound and pressure ulcers, urolithiasis and urinary tract infection, osteoporosis and chronic constipation.
It is widely accepted regular exercise may improve both health status and quality of life in general population. However little attention has been paid to individuals with intellectual disability (ID). Considering the fact there was no literature enough in the past, people with ID underwent training programs designed for general population, not for them. Accordingly they did not achieve their goals at the end of the training program. Furthermore these protocols were associated to increased drop-out rates and sportrelated injuries. Fortunately, the design of modern training programs incorporates many specific variables from the target population, such as chronotropic insufficiency in individuals with Down syndrome. As a consequence, recent intervention programs based on physical activity have improved oxidative damage, obesity, hypotonia, among other prevalent disorders. And many of these papers have been published by Spanish research groups. For the reasons already mentioned, future studies on this topic are highly required. Mainly if we take into account previous results are highly positive. As well as there is an increasing number of national and international sport events for people with ID.
with an opportunity to participate in training sessions and sport competition. One of the initiatives of the Special Olympics is the program Healthy Athletes which includes project Special Smiles that provides intellectually disabled athletes with dental care. Objectives. The goal of this study was to evaluate the frequency of mesial and lateral incisor trauma among athletes with intellectual disabilities, participating in Special Olympics V European Summer Games Warsaw 2010. Additional goal was to evaluate the frequency of undertaking treatment of observed injuries by dentists. Material and Methods. The study includes data of 708 sportsmen, with distinction on representatives from 17 different countries of Europe and Asia. The examination was held strictly to the algorithm introduced in "Training Manual for Standardized Oral Health Screening". Results. It was found that over 13% of mentally retarded athletes have experienced a trauma in the past. It was observed that only 29% of trauma cases were treated. The highest frequency of trauma occurred among the athletes from Turkey (33.3%). In the team from Sweden not a single case of trauma had been noted. Conclusions. Dental trauma is often observed among the Special Olympics athletes. DeHowever a more disturbing issue is a low percentage of carried out dental treatment in those cases.
To find out the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the mentally handicapped, 183 subjects living in the community were studied; 58 of whom had Down's syndrome. It was found that 70.58% of males and 95.83% of females with Down's syndrome, and 49.29% males and 62.96% females from other mentally handicapped subjects, were categorized as overweight and obese, compared with 40% of males and 32% females in that category from normal population.
Centile charts for assessment of stature and weight reflecting expected deficient size and growth rate of home-reared children with Down syndrome are presented for two age intervals, 1 to 36 months and 2 to 18 years, based on 4650 observations on 730 children. Data were pooled and used to estimate five centiles which were smoothed using a flexible mathematical function. These data corroborate other studies of growth in children with Down syndrome demonstrating deficient growth rate throughout the growing period, but most marked in infancy and again at adolescence. Children with Down syndrome in the present sample were taller than those from institutionalized samples at all ages throughout the growing period. Children with moderate or severe congenital heart disease on average were 1.5 to 2.0 cm shorter and about 1 kg lighter than those without or with only mild disease. Mean weight and weight divided by stature squared show that children with Down syndrome have a tendency to be overweight beginning in late infancy and throughout the remainder of the growing years.
Update on the 1987 Task Force Report on High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents: A Working Group Report from the National High Blood Pressure Education Program
- B Falkner
- Daniels
- Sr
- Jmh Loggie
Special Olympics: The role of the RD. Today's
- R Touger-Decker
- Perlman
Special Olympics: The role of the RD
- R Touger-Decker
- S Perlman