CHICAGO (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- We've all heard about the obesity epidemic, but it's hitting people with disabilities twice as hard. More than half of people with spinal cord injuries are overweight. There are adventurous ways to stay in shape even if walking isn't an option.

It's an image Nick Scott can't shake.

"I could feel myself rolling and the sound the glass shattering and my car just crushing," Scott told Ivanhoe.

A blown tire on the way to football practice paralyzed him at 16.

"The doctors just came in and bluntly told me my football days were over, and I would never walk again, just like that," Scott said. "I was devastated."

Confined to a chair and growing overweight, Scott was frustrated. A rigorous training schedule and diet combined with a lot of determination elevated him to the national stage of wheelchair bodybuilding. He now helps run a wheelchair bodybuilding camp at Shriners Hospital for Children. Scott brings the gym to the kids.

"I think, as a handicap, it's going to make us more independent," Julio Wilbanks, a class participant, told Ivanhoe.

About 60 percent of adults with spinal cord injuries are overweight or obese. They have less bone and muscle mass and more fat, which means when they do exercise, they burn fewer calories.

"Taking good care of the muscles in the body that they have is particularly important," Sara J. Klaas, M.S.W., Director of Spinal Cord Injury Services at Shriners Hospital for Children in Chicago, Ill., told Ivanhoe.

Bodybuilding is just one part of what therapists call adventure therapy -- a way to get paralyzed people involved in activities they thought were impossible. Nineteen-year-old Michael Lewis was hurt in a motorcross crash. Now, his favorite sport is scuba diving.

"Most people are like, 'You can't swim without legs,'" Lewis told Ivanhoe. "We're scuba diving without them."

Lewis is keeping fit, while proving limits are made to be broken.

People with spinal cord injuries are also at a greater risk of having high cholesterol, coronary artery disease, diabetes and cancer. Working out can help with digestion, sleep patterns and blood circulation and fight depression.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT:

Sara J. Klaas, MSW
Director, Spinal Cord Injury Service
Shriners Hospital for Children
Chicago, IL
(773) 385-5448
http://www.shrinershospitals.org