The purpose of this study was to measure and compare athletes’ dietary intake to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data that represents individuals without intellectual disabilities (ID), and to determine the effect of living arrangements on dietary intake and diet quality of the athletes. Dietary intakes from the athletes’ three-day food records, previously collected in 2009, were analyzed using the Self Administered 24-hr Recall (ASA24). Results indicated individuals with ID have a poorer quality diet than Americans without ID. Overall, the lowest HEI-2005 score (e.g., poorest diet quality) was observed among the subjects who lived in the family home (41.4 ± 7.6) and the highest HEI-2005 score was observed among the subjects who lived in a group home (45.3 ± 6.4). Results show that the more food choice responsibility given to an individual with ID the lower the quality diet, and the less responsibility given to an individual with ID the higher the quality diet (p≤0.01). Determining the nutrient intake and diet quality of individuals with ID may help identify ways to reduce the rate of obesity in this population, and provide health professionals with information needed to develop appropriate educational efforts. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

The purpose of this correlational study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Healthy Athlete® Health Promotion questionnaire as an instrument to assess the true dietary habits of Delaware County, Indiana, Special Olympics Athletes. A total of 35 Delaware County Special Olympics athletes completed this study. The athletes’ true dietary habits were estimated using a three-day food record and the Caregiver Questionnaire (CQ). Results indicated the Healthy Athletes Software (HAS) nutrition questions lacked statistical strength in both reliability and validity. The test-retest indicated only one-third of the questions were identified as reliable (Kappa ranged from 0.347 to 0.773; r ranged from 0.356 to 0.794). When compared to the standard, only three of the 15 food items on the HAS questionnaire had a significant relationship to the standard (r coefficients ranged from 0.458 to .777). In contrast, 11 of the 15 food items on the CQ were highly correlated with the three-day food record. The results of this study indicate the need for improvement to make to the HAS nutrition questions more reliable and valid in the assessment of Special Olympics athletes’ dietary habits / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences