Food and children with Prader-Willi syndrome
V. A. Holm and P. L. Pipes
Observations regarding caloric intake, growth, and food-related behavior of
14 children with Prader-Willi syndrome have shown that they need fewer
calories than normal children to maintain their weight in an appropriate
weight channel, and that they exhibit peculiar food-related behavior that
in some instances is present before the onset of obesity. Most of them can
be prevented from gaining excessive weight or can lose weight if they and
their caretakers receive appropriate counseling on how to provide
low-calorie food and how to make other food inaccessible. In 12 of the 14
children, a reasonably successful weight-control program was achieved for
up to five years. A biological basis for many of the noted observations is
assumed, but the exact nature of the defect remains elusive.
