Patterns of habitual physical activity in youth with and without Prader-Willi Syndrome

Children classified as overweight or obese and those with disabilities are at a greater risk of not meeting the minimum recommendation of 60 min a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity (PA). Youth with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) appear to participate in less PA compared to nonsyndromal children, likely due to syndrome-related factors. However, description of PA patterns in youth with PWS is lacking. The purpose of this study was to characterize PA in youth with PWS and to compare it to PA in children with nonsyndromal obesity. Twenty-four youth with PWS (ages 8-16 years) and 40 obese children without PWS (OB) (ages 8-11 years) wore accelerometers for eight consecutive days. Data were screened for compliance and classified into PA intensities: sedentary behavior (SED), light (LPA), moderate (MPA), vigorous (VPA) and moderate plus vigorous (MVPA). Youth with PWS spent 19.4% less time in weekly LPA (p = 0.007) and 29.8% less time in weekly VPA compared to OB controls (p = 0.036). All other intensities were similar between groups. In addition, PWS participated in less LPA and VPA during the weekends compared to OB, and less LPA on weekdays when compared to OB. There was also a trend towards PWS participating in less MVPA during the weekends and less VPA during the weekends than OB controls. There was a trend towards PWS participating in less VPA on weekends compared to weekdays, while OB participated similarly in VPA on weekdays and weekend days. On average, neither PWS nor OB children met minimum MVPA recommendations. The results suggest there is a need to design exercise programs for PWS youth that focus on integrating vigorous intensity activities, especially during the weekends when structured PA may not be available.