Nutrition Skills to Teach Young Adults with Intellectual Disabilities
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According to the National Down Syndrome Society, “adults with Down syndrome are more likely to be obese than their typically developing peers.” NDSS reports that weight management issues are generally attributed to taking in too many calories in relation to the level of physical activity, meaning people with Down syndrome typically are eating more calories than are burned through physical activity and exercise.
Building balanced eating habits can be a bit nuanced and abstract. People with Down syndrome tend to learn best, not in the abstract, but with concrete examples and visuals. So how can we teach balanced and healthy eating to people with Down syndrome? One strategy the NDSS lists for treating and preventing obesity is portion control.
1. Use Their Hand as a Visual
Try teaching portion sizes in the moment while you’re in the kitchen cooking or preparing meals. Here’s a portion size guide from Consortium for Health and Military Performance that visually shows the appropriate portion sizes using one’s own hand.
Your handy guide to portion sizes | HPRC (hprc-online.org)
2. Portion Control Plates
Another way to visually show appropriate portion sizes is by using a portion control plate. These plates have divided sections for proteins, vegetables, fruits, and grains. Have your child practice plating their dinner meal components into the correct sections to ensure they are not overeating.
Here’s a portion control plate from MyPlate.gov available for purchase on Amazon.
Or if you like even more visuals, here is another option that has illustrations for each category on the plate.
3. Portion Control Containers
Similar to portion control plates, you can teach the person with Down syndrome to use color-coded portion control containers when preparing their meals. These would be great tools for packing a lunch and the containers generally come with some information on which colors and how many of each color to use for a balanced breakfast/lunch/dinner based on weight and activity level.
4. Salad Dressing and Condiments
People with Down syndrome can use small 1-1.5 oz cups to portion out their salad dressing, condiments, and dipping sauces before adding them to their food. Here’s an easy-to-clean option available on Amazon.
5. Serving Size
Teach awareness of serving sizes, especially when it relates to snacks. Perhaps it may seem an impossible feat to eliminate potato chips or other snacks from someone’s preferred diet; instead focus on teaching moderation of the more unhealthy foods and food groups by drawing attention to the nutrition label. Focusing on matching the serving size and eating only 22 chips per day instead of a whole bag, is a great start to moderation. You may have to start off with one serving for lunch and one serving for dinner, then over a couple weeks decrease to one serving per day, one serving per week, to whatever the goal may be.
New habits take time, mistakes, and patience. Yes, mistakes. So go easy on yourself and your child while trying to learn new, balanced eating habits. You might consider changing your eating habits to practice proper portion control alongside your child, because who likes learning and practicing a new skill on their own?
