July 03, 2024
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have higher rates of Type 2 diabetes (T2D) compared to the general population. Research led by the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ontario Tech University looked at 20 years of data and suggests a 15% reduction in T2D rates among the IDD population when they were involved in the Special Olympics (SO) program. Even accounting for variables like age, sex, type of community, affluence and individual morbidity, participants in the SO program had a T2D rate of 11 per 1,000 person-years, compared to 8.4 per 1,000 person-years among non-participants.