The Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity and Its Determinants in Children with and without Disabilities

ObjectivesTo compare the prevalence of overweight and obesity and nutrition and physical activity behavior between primary school children with and without disabilities.Study designBody weight and height were measured in 4072 children from regular primary schools in the city of Zwolle, the Netherlands, and in 85 children from a school for children with disabilities. Furthermore, parents completed a questionnaire on the child’s nutrition and physical activity behavior. A χ2 analysis was used to test categorical variables between groups, and analysis of variance was used for continuous variables.ResultsThe prevalence of overweight and obesity among disabled children was 30.6% and 10.6%, respectively, which is three and six times higher than in nondisabled children (P < .001). Furthermore, our study shows statistically significant differences in nutrition and physical activity behavior between disabled and nondisabled children.ConclusionsThere is a need to promote a healthy lifestyle and to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity in disabled children.