Effect of COVID-19 lockdown on body composition of residents with intelectual disability

The purpose of this study was to determinate the effect of COVID-19 lockdown measures after 17 weeks on the physical activity level and body composition of residents with intellectual disabilities. An intra-group repeated measures design was used before and after lockdown. The study involved 42 adults with different degrees of intellectual disability. The Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) was used to evaluate the degree of physical activity and the electrical bioimpedance (InBody-230) for the analysis of body composition. The results obtained reveal that during lockdown there was an average reduction of 89 % in all physical activity values and a 28% increase in sedentary habits (p <0.001). There was a widespread loss of muscle mass (2.5%; p <0.01) which could be interpreted as a temporary forced sarcopenia. As a conclusion, the importance of physical activity programs in this group is highlighted.