It is important for everyone to have a healthy diet if they want to enjoy their life for longer. But for people with a disability it is even more important. In fact, you could say it is an essential part of their care and should be something that is a normal part of their lifestyle. Why? Disabled people usually have many more health problems than others.
If they have a diet filled with fast food or high sugar snacks they are even more likely than others to succumb to diseases such as diabetes and other problems. A poor diet will make them even more likely to become obese because they cannot move around and exercise to the same extent as other people, especially if they are wheelchair bound.
Not all disabled people can or do become involved in sports. Some are too disabled, while others just don’t want to participate. They may do other things to keep them occupied, but not activities that give their body any exercise. Thus, if they don’t eat a healthy diet they end up becoming even more overweight to the extent that they couldn’t play a sport if they wanted to.
The trouble is that when you are confined to a wheelchair or have difficulty in moving around, eating is one thing you can do. Many people eat for comfort, not just disabled people. But you are more at risk of wanting to, since your whole lifestyle has had to change, and that takes a great deal of getting used to. The trouble is that comfort foods are high in sugar and fat no one will snack on a carrot or celery stick for comfort. Chocolate biscuits and cream cakes are much more enticing.
If you are disabled, it is wise to choose your snacks carefully. That doesn’t mean you should deny yourself those cream cakes; just limit them so you don’t gain a lot of weight. And make sure you do some kind of exercise every day, even if you don’t like it. It will help burn those calories up and give you many more benefits besides.
Increasing your core strength will help your balance, whether you move around in a wheelchair or not. Increasing your circulation will prevent many problems from swelling legs and feet to sores from sitting and just feeling cold and stiff from lack of exercise.
A healthy diet will make you stronger at the time when every bit of strength you can get is essential to cope with being disabled. It will help to prevent things like colds and flu, infections and diseases caused by a poor diet. You will feel better too, when your diet improves and may even feel up to getting out and doing some form of sport that you haven’t tried before.