title: Obesity and overweight prevalence among adolescents with disabilities.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We examined overweight and obesity prevalence among adolescents with disabilities by disability type (physical vs cognitive) and demographic factors (sex, age, race/ethnicity).
  
  
  METHODS
  Parents (N = 662) of adolescents aged 12 to 18 years with disabilities from 49 states responded to an online survey from September 2008 through March 2009.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Prevalence of obesity among adolescents with physical and cognitive disabilities (17.5%) was significantly higher compared with that among adolescents without disabilities (13.0%). Obesity prevalence was higher among males, 18-year-olds, and youths with cognitive disabilities than among females, younger adolescents, and youths with physical disabilities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The higher prevalence of obesity among youths with disabilities compared with nondisabled youths, particularly in certain subgroups, requires further examination in future surveillance research.
authors.affiliation: Center on Health Promotion Research for Persons with Disabilities, Department of Disability and Human Development, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60608-6904, USA. jrimmer@uic.edu
authors.forename: James H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Rimmer
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamaki
authors.forename: Brienne M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lawrence C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Vogel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002547:Cerebral Palsy; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D004314:Down Syndrome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007859:Learning Disabilities; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D014481:United States