title: Obesity and health behaviours of British adults with self-reported intellectual impairments: cross sectional survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  People with intellectual disability have significantly higher age-adjusted rates of mortality and morbidity (including obesity) than their non-disabled peers. They are also significantly less likely to be physically active.
  
  
  METHODS
  Secondary analysis of de-identified cross-sectional data from the first two waves of Understanding Society, a new longitudinal study focusing on the life experiences of UK citizens. Interviews were undertaken with 50,994 individuals aged 16 and over in Wave 1 and 54,585 in Wave 2. Of these, 520 participants age 16-49 (1.8% of the unweighted age-restricted sample) were identified at either Wave 1 or Wave 2 as having self-reported intellectual impairments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  British adults with self-reported intellectual impairments have higher rates of obesity, inactivity, tobacco and alcohol use and poorer nutrition than their non-disabled peers. Adjusting risk estimates for between group differences in age, gender and exposure to material hardship indicated that a significant proportion of their increased risk of obesity, tobacco use and poorer nutrition may be attributable to their poorer living conditions (rather than their self-reported intellectual impairments per se).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  People with intellectual disabilities should begin to be regarded as a 'vulnerable' group in the context of public health policy and practice.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Disability Research, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK. j.m.robertson@lancaster.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Emerson
authors.forename: Susannah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baines
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hatton
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D057566:Self Report; D013222:State Medicine