Promoting Health & Wellness

Health and wellness are an important part of life, especially for children with DD/ID who are at an increased risk for certain health conditions. Health and wellness are affected by behavior, barriers to health care, and genetics. Healthy lifestyles begin by creating good habits from the start.

Every family needs to find the best ways to implement a healthy lifestyle by eating healthy foods and engaging in fun exercises. Learning about health risks could also help with prevention and the initiation of timely treatments.

SUPPORTING HEALTH AND WELLNESS INTERVENTIONS AT HOME

Healthy Diet
Physical Activity
Sleep
Stress Management

Healthy Diet

A healthy diet consists of nutritious foods that support growth and development. Some choices for healthy foods may include:

Whole fruits
Variety of vegetables
Low-fat or fat-free dairy products after age 2
- Note: children under 12 months should drink breast milk or formula, and children between 12 months and 2 should drink whole milk.
Whole grains
Protein, like beans, soy, seafood, lean meats, poultry, and unsalted nuts and seeds
Drink plenty of water

In addition to consuming healthy foods, it is important to limit high sugar and high saturated fat snacks and drinks, as this will also help achieve a healthy diet. Learning about good food choices will help your whole family maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle.

External Resources:

Start Simple with MyPlate, by U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Nutrition Resources, by American Academy of Pediatrics

Physical Activity

According to the CDC, children ages 3-5 should be active throughout the day and children ages 6-17 should have 60 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity daily. There are so many ways to incorporate fun physical activities that will help your child reach the daily recommended amount of exercise.

Some examples include:

Swimming
Dancing
Playing sports
Walking the dog
Biking

It is also important to limit the amount of inactive time, including watching television, playing computer games, or using the Internet. During schoolwork, your child may stand up and take short breaks for physical activity to promote their physical health and improve focus and learning. Based on the recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the use of screen time should be limited to 2 hours per day.

External Resources:

Fitness, by American Academy of Pediatrics

Sleep

A healthy sleep routine includes: a bedtime routine, a consistent sleep schedule, sleeping through the night, and age-appropriate sleep duration (9-11 hours).

Strategies to improve your child’s sleep:

Set up a sleep schedule
Have a regular time for going to bed and waking up all year long
Keep your child’s room quiet and dark
Consider white noise or soft music
No TV/electronics in the bedroom
Maintain a comfortable room temperature and humidity
Find comfortable bedding texture

Strategies to help your child better understand their sleep routine:

Review what is expected, like falling asleep in their own bed
Use a picture schedule or social story about their bedtime routine
Ignore problem behavior, like requests to sleep in your bed or asking for a snack

Strategies to promote sleep safety:

Put a lock, doorbell, or alarm on the child’s door, if your child walks during sleep or is at risk of running away at night
Use a baby monitor or window guards to ensure your child’s safety while they sleep

External Resources:

Sleep and Sleep Disorders, by CDC
Healthy Sleeping Tips, by Special Olympics

Stress Management

Stress management can help prevent behavior difficulties in your child. Strategies to decrease stress are helpful in children who tend to be anxious, aggressive, get easily angry, and overreact during transitions or when asked to do a non-preferred activity.

Strategies to decrease stress include:

Create a visual schedule made of pictures showing your child’s activities throughout the day. This will prepare them for transitions.
Adjust expectations to your child’s developmental age.
Use meditation, breathing exercises, or yoga
Use techniques like deep breathing, counting, or taking a break
Listen to calming music
Perform a soothing activity
Spending time with a dog, cat, or other pet
Spending quality time with a parents, sibling, or friend

External Resources:

Building Resilience in Children, by American Academy of Pediatrics

SUPPORTING HEALTH AND WELLNESS INTERVENTIONS IN THE COMMUNITY

Special Olympics Programs

One way to encourage physical activity and active play is by having your child participate in their local Special Olympics Program. Special Olympics has a number of programs for children of all ages that continue into adulthood.

Special Olympics provides children and adults with and without DD/ID with the opportunity to participate in various sports training and competitions. Being on a Special Olympics team has many added benefits outside of physical activity, including supporting leadership and teamwork skills, while developing friendships and connecting with the community.

Young Athletes (Ages 2-7)

Special Olympics Young Athletes is an early childhood play program for children with and without DD/ID, ages 2 to 7 years old. Young Athletes introduces basic sport skills, like running, kicking and throwing and offers families, teachers, caregivers, and people from the community the chance to share the joy of sports with all children.

Young Athletes provides children of all abilities the same opportunities to advance in core developmental milestones and supports development of a variety of skills, including motor, social, emotional and learning skills. Children learn how to play with others and develop important skills for learning. Children also learn to share, take turns and follow directions. These skills help children in family, community and school activities.

Sports and Unified Sports (Ages 8+)

Special Olympics operates sports training and competition programs for people with DD/ID across almost 200 countries around the world. Children and adults, starting at age 8, can participate in Special Olympics’ sports programming in over 30 individual and team sports. Special Olympics athletes participate in regular training and compete in local, regional, national, or global competitions.

In addition to Special Olympics’ traditional sports, Special Olympics Unified Sports brings people with and without DD/ID together to train and compete on the same team. Unified Sports is inspired by principles of inclusion and the belief that training together and playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding.

Special Olympics sport and Unified Sports are easy ways to incorporate regular exercise and physical activity into your child’s routine, while helping them improve in their self-confidence, teamwork and social skills.

Strong Minds

Strong Minds is an interactive learning activity focused on developing adaptive coping skills. This program is a part of Special Olympics and supports your child’s emotional health and well-being. Through multiple activities which can be used at home or at school, individually or in a group, your child will learn how to cope with stress.

Special Olympics Resources:

Find Special Olympics Near You

^{Get in touch with us to volunteer, become an athlete, join a Unified Sports team, work as a coach and to learn about upcoming events.}

Young Athletes

^{Special Olympics Young Athletes is an early childhood play program for children with and without intellectual disabilities, ages 2 to 7 years old.}

Young Athletes at Home

^{Young Athletes offers families a collection of resources and activities for inclusive play at home.}

Sports

^{Special Olympics offers 30-plus Olympic-style individual and team sports that provide meaningful training and competition opportunities for persons with intellectual disabilities.}

Unified Sports

^{About 1.4 million people worldwide take part in Unified Sports, breaking down stereotypes about people with intellectual disabilities in a really fun way.}

Strong Minds Activity Guide

^{Strong Minds is an interactive learning activity focused on developing adaptive coping skills. Competition provides a natural opportunity to develop active strategies for maintaining emotional wellness under stress, such as: thinking positive thoughts, releasing stress and connecting with others.}