Materials Supporting Education and Nutrition

for Adults with Intellectual or Developmental

Disabilities (MENU-AIDDs)

A Health Promotion Program for Review

(Poster presentation at American Public Health Association 135th Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, November 4-7, 2007)

Introduction

Man shops for fresh colorful produce MENU-AIDDs is a nutritional health promotion program that provides nutrition supports to adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) living in group homes in the community and to the staff who provide direct support to them.

Background Research shows

Menus and foods available in IDD group homes are nutritionally inadequate
Staff are under-qualified to deliver healthful meals
Nutrition-related secondary conditions are limiting for adults with IDD

Methods

Participants: 4 IDD Group homes in Montana serving 32 adult consumers with IDD

Procedure:

1. Train staff to use MENU-AIDDs
2. Baseline & 8-weeks evaluations on:

Menu changes
Residents’ weight changes (BMI)

Servings of food groups on written menus (occasions/week) Description of table 1

Food Group Variables	Pre	Post	Difference	% Change	Significance
Whole grains	.9	1.7	+.8	+88%	p<.10
Vegetables	10.3	12.3	+2.0	+19%	p<.05
Green, yellow, orange veggies	3.1	7.4	+4.3	+139%	p<.10
Protein – lowfat	2.6	4.3	+1.7	+65%	p<.10
“Junk food”	5.3	3.3	-2.0	-38%	p<.05
Portions	1.3	4.4	+3.1	+239%	p<.10

On the same menu plan, residents with lower BMI gained weight; residents with higher BMI lost weight. Description of table 2

Weight Gain Group (N = 9)
Pounds gained	+4.2 lbs.	(+2 lbs – +10 lbs.)
BMI at baseline	22.1	(17.2 – 28.7)
BMI post-intervention	22.7	(17.9 – 28.7)
Weight Loss Group (N = 12)
Pounds lost	-4.4 lbs.	(-12 lbs. – -2 lbs.)
BMI at baseline	28.9	(22.8 – 35.5)
BMI post-intervention	28.2	(22.1 – 34.7)
Variance across BMI categories – baseline	18.1	(17.4 – 35.5)
Variance across BMI categories – post intervention	16.3	(18.4 – 34.7)

Kathleen Humphries PhD, Meg A. Traci PhD, Tom Seekins PhD, Alison C. Pepper MA.
The Rural Institute on Disabilities, University of Montana

For more information, contact:

Kathleen Humphries
Montana Disability and Health Program
The University of Montana Rural Institute
52 Corbin Hall, Missoula, MT 59812-7056
888-268-2743 toll-free;
406-243-5467 Voice;
406-243-4200 TTY
406-243-2349 (fax)
http://rtc.ruralinstitute.umt.edu
https://mtdh.ruralinstitute.umt.edu

Opinions expressed are those of the authors, and not necessarily those of the funding agencies.
This report is available in Braille, large print and text formats on request.