Nutritional intervention with hypocaloric diet for weight control in children and adolescents with Prader–Willi Syndrome

• A low cost nutritional program for children's with Prader–Willi is presented.
• The hypocaloric diet implemented efficiently improved anthropometric indicators.
• The nutritional program implemented contributed to weight maintenance.

Prader–Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a genetic disorder caused by the lack of expression of paternal alleles in the proximal region of the long arm of chromosome 15. Low inhibitory control and hyperphagia are two of the most severe neurobehavioral symptoms of the syndrome. The aim of the present study was to assess the efficiency of nutritional training program with the use hypocaloric diet for weight control in a group of five children and adolescents with PWS. The intervention program consisted of 10 sessions for parents' orientation during 8 months. Patients had their anthropometric measures assessed (weight, height and body mass index — BMI). The main results indicate weight maintenance, height increase, and BMI decrease after intervention. These results were considered indicators of the program's efficiency.