The utility of anthropometric assessment at institutions and schools for individuals with intellectual disabilities and/or motor disabilities: a nation-wide survey in Japan.
OBJECTIVE
To obtain information regarding the actual methods used for nutritional assessment at institutions and schools in order to establish a nutritional assessment method for individuals with disabilities.


METHODS
Questionnaires were sent to 1,080 selected institutions and schools for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) and/or motor disabilities (MD). The response rate was 76.5%.


RESULTS
The implementation rates for height and weight measurements were generally very high at both institutions and schools for individuals with ID and/or MD (85.5-100%), but those for other items were very low and varied among different disability types. The implementation rate for BMI was 17.9-71.9%, demonstrating that BMI was not widely used among institutions and schools for individuals with ID and/or MD. As for the methods for calculating percent body fat, a high percentage of institutions and schools for individuals with ID and/or MD indicated the use of bioelectrical impedance analysis for most disability types (60 - 77.9%).


CONCLUSIONS
The percentages of institutions for individuals with ID and/or MD and of schools for individuals with ID and/or MD that implement nutritional assessment are very low, with variations among different disability types.
Ohwada
Hiroko
H
Department of Food Sciences, Ibaraki Christian University, Hitachi, Ibaraki 319-1295, Japan. h.ohwada@icc.ac.jp
Nakayama
Takeo
T
D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000886:Anthropometry; D001823:Body Composition; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D017097:Electric Impedance; D006801:Humans; D007326:Institutionalization; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007564:Japan; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D012574:Schools; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires