Inadequate nutrient intake in people with disabilities: National representative sample in Korea

BACKGROUND: Individuals with disabilities often face significant issues related to nutrition such as food insecurity. However, only few studies have investigated whether people with disabilities have relatively poorer nutritional status than those without disabilities. METHODS: To compare the differences in the nutritional adequacy of diets between people with and without disabilities, 5296 adults aged ≥19 years from the 2013 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were included in the analysis. Diet adequacy was assessed with the nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR) for 10 nutrients and the corresponding mean adequacy ratio (MAR). A multivariate logistic regression model was used to assess the likelihood of having nutrient inadequacy in people with disabilities. RESULTS: NAR for energy, protein, vitamin B2, niacin, calcium, and phosphorus, excluding vitamin A, B1, C, and iron, was significantly lower in people with disabilities compared to in those without disabilities (all P < 0.05). MAR of 10 nutrients was also lower in people with disabilities (P = 0.003). The proportion of overall nutrient inadequacy, defined as having a MAR below 0.75, was 40.6% in people with disabilities versus 27.5% in those without disabilities (P < 0.001). In a multivariate logistic regression model, people with disabilities had a higher odds of having nutrient inadequacy than people without disabilities (odds ratio = 1.53, 95% confidence interval = 1.11-2.11). CONCLUSIONS: People with disabilities are more likely to not meet nutritional adequacy. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a nutrition assistance policy to comprehensively support people with disabilities who have poor nutritional status. FUNDING: This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (No. 2021R1C1C2008683) and the Ministry of Education (No. 2019R1I1A1A01063639). KEY MESSAGES: • People with disabilities had a higher prevalence of nutrient inadequacy than those without disabilities. • A support system to improve the access of people with disabilities to safe and healthy food must be ensured.