# Improving Body Composition Assessment and Physical Activity Monitoring in Adults with Down Syndrome using Mobile Technology

> **NIH NIH R21** · OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $245,257

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Adults with Down syndrome (DS) are twice as likely to be obese (BMI > 30kg/m2) than their peers without DS.
The health consequences of excessive adiposity include greater risk for cardiovascular diseases, cancers, type
II diabetes, etc. These alarming health implications highlight the importance of identifying accurate methods for
body composition and physical activity (PA) analysis since an early detection and intervention could help
alleviate the burden of diseases that occur later in life. Unfortunately, many methods used for assessing body
composition and PA may be perceived as threatening and burdensome by individuals with DS. Particularly, the
need to visit a research laboratory or clinical testing center may induce discomfort, as our team has noted in
previous research conducted in adults with DS. The MPI’s can attest firsthand that many subjects with DS find
body composition testing as threatening when using devices such as dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).
Several subjects with DS that visited our laboratory had difficulty remaining motionless during the 5-to-10-
minute DXA scanning procedure. We overcame those issues by having a parent or guardian available to offer
verbal encouragement during the scan. Nonetheless, the emergence of wearable technology may offer the
opportunity to measure body composition and PA in a comfortable environment. As a result, the utilization of
wearable technology for body composition and PA may overcome problems commonly observed by
researchers in validation studies. This multi-site cross-sectional study will include 50 adults with DS (18-60
years of age). Body composition will be measured via the InBody Band 2 (biompedance-based smartwatch)
and compared against a criterion DXA scan. Further, the validity of wearable PA trackers will be examined via
the following devices: wrist – Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, InBody BAND 2; waist – ActiGraph GT9X, thigh –
activPAL Micro 4; and ankle – StepWatch 4. The wearable PA trackers will be validated against a criterion
measure that consists of directly observed, hand tallied step count (with video recording for step count
verification). This project relates to the mission of NIH since knowledge gained will be useful in promoting the
health of a special population that has an increased risk of obesity by identifying whether a wearable
technology can be used in weight management and PA interventions. In addition, this study is responsive to
NOT-OD-21-092, which will study the validation of at-home diagnostic tools including actigraphy and wearable
technologies in individuals with DS.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10867896
- **Project number:** 1R21HD115191-01
- **Recipient organization:** OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Michael Esco
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $245,257
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-01 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10867896

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10867896, Improving Body Composition Assessment and Physical Activity Monitoring in Adults with Down Syndrome using Mobile Technology (1R21HD115191-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10867896. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*