Treatment of Obesity Among Youth With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: An Emerging Role for Telenursing.
Elizabeth Anne Bennett, Rachel Pearl Kolko, Lichun Chia and 2 others
PMID 28349744WHAT IT FOUND
Small interventions for youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities improved food choices and some weight goals.
The paper suggests nurses could deliver this care by telehealth, but the evidence is limited.
Key findings
01National samples reported higher obesity prevalence in youth with disabilities: 20.4% versus 13.1% for autism and other learning or behavioral disabilities, and 28.9% versus 15.5% for intellectual disabilities.
02In two residential settings, 43 youth chose more whole grains and fruit after a cafeteria intervention, and among 40 group-home youth more than 80% met a weight goal.
03In telehealth and telenursing examples, users had greater weight-related knowledge than non-users, and tablet diet tracking occurred 83% of the time with improved diet quality, but the highlighted studies used small, heterogeneous, uncontrolled samples.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This is a narrative review, not an original trial of nurse-delivered telehealth, so it cannot show that telenursing changes weight outcomes. The highlighted studies used small, heterogeneous samples and many were non-randomized or uncontrolled. For at least one residential intervention, the effect of individual components and impact on weight status remained unknown. Parents and caregivers sometimes provided high-calorie snacks, and obesity may not be prioritized when families are already managing disability-related behavior. Telehealth barriers included internet access, computer use, privacy, nurse workload, and keeping patients engaged over time.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that nurse-delivered telehealth treats obesity. The paper is a narrative review, and the highlighted studies used small, heterogeneous, often uncontrolled samples.