Wellness Program Gets People With Developmental Disabilities Moving

BOSSIER CITY, La. -- Dennis McCaskill is stepping and stretching three days a week at a new exercise program for developmentally disabled adults.
Evergreen Presbyterian Ministries, a Haughton-based nonprofit organization that serves the developmentally disabled, started an informal exercise program in 2009. It's using grants totaling $35,000 to expand the exercise opportunities and add nutrition education.
A U.S. Health and Human Services study of disability and health between 2001 and 2005 found that 1 in 3 disabled people was obese, compared to 1 in 5 people without disabilities. The study included people with physical, mental and emotional challenges.
Another study showed that among adults with Down syndrome, 45 percent of men and 50 percent of women were overweight, said Kathy Kliebert, assistant secretary of the state Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities.