Exploration of diet, physical activity, health knowledge and the cardiometabolic profile of young adults with intellectual disability.

The study used a convenience sample recruited primarily through disability organisations, which may limit generalisability. Physical activity and diet were measured via self-report or proxy report, which can be inaccurate compared to objective measures. The cross-sectional design cannot prove causality between the risk factors and cardiometabolic outcomes. Sample size was relatively small, particularly for subgroup analyses by ID severity or medication use. Caregivers provided some responses for participants unable to answer, which may introduce bias.

Funding was provided by the Iverson Health Innovation Research Institute at Swinburne University of Technology. One author is supported by a scholarship from Yooralla, a disability service provider. The authors declared no conflict of interest.

Do not assume that normal blood pressure and lipid profiles mean low cardiovascular risk. This study found elevated resting heart rate, insulin, and HbA1c in young adults with ID despite normal BP and lipids, suggesting other pathways to cardiometabolic disease are active.