Nutrient and Carotenoid Intakes and Dietary Habits in Mentally Disabled Adults / 대한지역사회영양학회지

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: According to preceding studies, many people with mental disability have unbalanced dietary habits or excessive intake of calories. Most of them are overweight or obese due to lack of self-control for food consumption, swallowing with inadequate chewing and physical inactivity. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the nutritional intake, including carotenoid, in mentally disabled people and find out a possible solution for nutritional improvement. METHODS: People with intellectual disability (N=28), emotional disability (N=44) participated in this study. The disorder grades were from I to III and ages were between 20 and 65 years. Assessments included anthropometry, daily intake of nutrients, including carotenoid, ROMA III questionnaire for assessing bowel movement. RESULTS: The average BMI of intellectually disabled people and emotionally disabled people was in the range of overweight and obesity respectively (23.7 +/- 6.3 kg/m2, 25.8 +/- 4.1 kg/m2). Overall, the frequencies of vegetable and dairy product intakes were lower in this population. When compared with Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI) from Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans 2010, the intakes of vitamin B1, vitamin B2 and calcium were insufficient in both groups. Also, lycopene intakes of carotenoid were low, compared with traditional Korean diet of the non-disabled people from the second year 2008 of the 4th National Health and Nutrition Survey. In addition, emotionally disabled people also had lower intake of cryptoxanthin. CONCLUSIONS: The mentally disabled people in this study showed lower intakes of vitamin B1, vitamin B2, calcium and carotenoids. Based on these findings, we recommend that it is important to encourage mentally disabled people to consume sufficient amounts of such nutrients in order to promote nutritional status.