Health Research Low Bone Mineral Density among Persons with Intellectual Disabilities At Health Promotion venues, athletes are offered guides for healthy eating, lifestyle choices, fun ways to increase physical fitness as well as information (content varies with the health needs of the population) on topics such as tobacco avoidance, sun safety and skin care. Bone Builders is one such publication written with Special Olympics athletes in mind, designed to teach important health and wellness concepts. Health Promotion is one of six disciplines of Special Olympics Healthy Athletes®, developed in 1996. Healthy Athletes is designed to help Special Olympics athletes improve their health and fitness, leading to enhanced sports experience and improved well-being. Health screenings at Games include body mass index (BMI) and bone mineral density (BMD) measurements. Note that osteopenia and osteoporosis appear to be more frequent among people with disabilities, especially Down syndrome: download Low Bone Mineral Density among Persons with Intellectual Disabilities at the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games (Adobe PDF, 215K), a poster presented at the AAMR annual meeting 1-4 June 2004, was authored by Courtney Pastorfield P.H.N. Sigfried Pueschael M.D. Alice Lenihan R.D. Joan Medlen R.D. Mark Wagner D.M.D. Stephen Corbin D.D.S. Health Promotion venues empower and motivate athletes to make healthy lifestyle choices that will improve their long-term health by using interactive educational games and literature. Download Low Bone Mineral Density among Persons with Intellectual Disabilities at the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games (Adobe PDF, 215K)    < Return to Health Research Home page >