Obesity trends of 8–18 year old Special Olympians: 2005–2010 John T. Foley a, *, Meghann Lloyd b , Daniel Vogl a , Viviene A. Temple c a Physical Education Department, State University of New York College at Cortland, Cortland, NY, USA b Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, ON, Canada c School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada 1. Introduction Healthy People 2010 had two overarching goals, one of which was to eliminate health disparities across the nation between many subpopulations (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). Unfortunately this goal was not met and still remains an overarching goal for Healthy People 2020 (NCHS, 2012). One population that consistently experiences high levels of health disparities (Krahn, Hammond, & Turner, 2006), including high rates of overweight and obesity, is individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) (De, Small, & Baur, 2008; Lloyd, Temple, & Foley, 2012; Maı ¨ano, 2011; Mikulovic et al., 2011; Stewart et al., 2009). Individuals with ID are a heterogeneous group who experience cognitive difficulties and deficits in conceptual, social and practical domains; and these difficulties appear before adulthood (APA, 2013). The etiology of ID can be the result of a genetic condition, an acquired condition, or the etiology is sometimes unknown (APA, 2000); individuals with ID also often have more than one health condition. Research in Developmental Disabilities 35 (2014) 705–710 A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 27 August 2013 Received in revised form 10 December 2013 Accepted 10 December 2013 Available online 4 January 2014 Keywords: Obesity Overweight BMI Intellectual disability Special Olympics Children Youth A B S T R A C T Obesity is a worldwide health problem. Individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) experience health disparities, including higher rates of obesity than their peers with typical development; however, there has been no tracking of the obesity rates of children and youth with ID over time. The objective of this study was to compare the BMI of children and youth (8–<19 years of age) with and without ID in the USA, measured overtime; and determine differences between the two groups. This study is a secondary analysis of BMI derived from the Special Olympics International (SOI) Healthy Athletes database. Data were available for 2541 (1527 male) American SOI participants. Using BMI cut-offs from the CDC growth curves the BMI data were stratified into two age bands: 8–11 years (n = 429) and 12–<19 years (n = 2112), and comparisons were made between SOI participants’ BMI data and published NHANES data from the years 2005–2006, 2007– 2008, and 2009–2010. SOI participants (12–<19 years) had significantly higher levels of obesity than the national average in 2007–2008 and 2009–2010; there were no differences in the children (8–11 years). Males in the 8–11 years age group were more likely to be obese than females in the same age group (OR = 1.62, p = .035). These results highlight that an obesity disparity exists in the USA for children and youth with ID, particularly as they get older and there is a need for further physical activity and healthy eating interventions and overall health promotion activities targeted at this population. ß 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author at: Park Center #1125, SUNY Cortland, Cortland, NY 13045, USA. Tel.: +1 607 753 5531. E-mail addresses: John.foley@cortland.edu, john.t.foley@gmail.com (J.T. Foley). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Research in Developmental Disabilities 0891-4222/$ – see front matter ß 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2013.12.005