A healthy lifestyle is important for everyone, including folks with intellectual disabilities (ID). However, not all solutions for healthy living work for everyone. It is equally important to understand individuality and individual perspective when beginning to develop healthy living habits. Researchers in Norway attempted to do just that.
An article, published in 2016, identified this particular issue. The authors note that while physical activity and a healthy diet are regarded as the pathway to reduce the prevalence of many chronic diseases, programs tailored for individuals with ID are rare. Before effective programs can be developed, then, it would be important to explore what people with ID know and understand about being healthy.
The authors conclusions included a few interesting points. In general, the people in the study had a good understanding of what healthy living entails, but that applying that knowledge to their lives was a larger challenge. It was noted in the article that more abstract concepts, like moderation, were more difficult to apply versus concrete ideas of “healthy” and “unhealthy.” Participants in this study did emphasize the importance of being and feeling healthy, but also noted that symptoms of co-occurring mental or physical disorders could become barriers to applying healthy lifestyle changes. This also means that any types of health promotion interventions will be most effective if they fit each individual’s personal and environmental preconditions, and that effectiveness decreases the more generic the programming becomes.
Many other barriers and resources were found to influence the effectiveness of a healthy lifestyle program. Here is the link to the article: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jir.12243