Achieving Healthy Weight for People with Disabilities

January 31, 2014

There are five new issue briefs that describe what people and organizations can do to help combat obesity among people with disabilities and assist them in achieving healthy weight and an improved quality of life.   CDC's Division of Human Development and Disability at the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities released the briefs, each targeted at specific audiences including: communities, health departments, employers, schools and healthcare professionals.

View all of the issue briefs at People with Disabilities: Healthy Weight Issue Briefs. 

View each issue brief (in PDF format):

• People with Disabilities: An Overview - Achieving Healthy Weight and Obesity Prevention 
• People with Disabilities: Health Department Strategies 
• People with Disabilities: Healthy Weight and Obesity Prevention in the Workplace 
• People with Disabilities: Healthy Weight and Obesity Prevention in Schools 
• People with Disabilities: What Healthcare Professionals Can Do to be Accessible 

Issue briefs include the following elements:

• Description of disability and healthy weight; purpose of the brief
• Considerations to prevent obesity in people with disabilities within a specific/targeted setting
• Did You Know? facts that support the issue of disability and healthy weight
• Description of what CDC is doing to achieve healthy weight for people with disabilities
• Summary statement containing key messages at the bottom of Page 2

Achieving healthy weight by preventing obesity in people with disabilities is a complex public health challenge, but one that offers major benefits to our country if effective strategies are successfully applied. 

Here are four things you can do today!

1. Spread the word. Distribute this information widely to your networks. Look out for tweets on people with disabilities and healthy weight from @DrBoyleCDC and please consider re-tweeting.
2. Use the targeted issue briefs with communities, health departments, employers, schools and healthcare professionals to ensure that nutrition, physical activity and wellness programs include people with disabilities.
3. Educate people and organizations on the barriers to healthy weight for people with disabilities and help promote physical activity environments that are accessible, safe and supportive of persons of all abilities.
4. Share with us your plans to use these issue briefs and/or any success stories you may have with various target audiences. Please send feedback to Stephen Luce.