A mindfulness-based health wellness program for an adolescent with Prader-Willi syndrome.
Mindfulness skills can give teens with Prader-Willi syndrome steady, long-term weight control.
01Research in Context
What this study did
One teen with Prader-Willi syndrome joined a three-part program.
He learned mindful eating, labeled real hunger, and shifted attention away from food.
He also walked and chose healthy meals.
The team tracked his weight for three years.
What they found
The teen lost weight every year and kept it off.
Mindfulness plus exercise beat exercise alone or exercise with diet.
The skills helped him stay in control long after the coaching ended.
How this fits with other research
Green et al. (2020) shows mindfulness also sharpens focus in kids with autism.
Both studies say mindfulness is doable and helpful for neurodevelopmental groups.
Fahmie et al. (2013) tried diet-and-exercise without mindfulness.
They saw only tiny fitness gains and no real weight change.
Adding mindfulness, like Singh et al. (2008) did, may be the missing piece.
Mount et al. (2011) got adults with IDD to lose 6% of body weight using pictures and small cash rewards.
Mindfulness could replace prizes and still keep the self-management spirit alive.
Why it matters
You can copy the teen’s three tools in one session.
Teach your client to pause, name “stomach hunger” versus “mouth want,” and switch to a quick walk or toy.
Track weight or waist weekly.
If the numbers drift down after a month, you have cheap, lasting help for a group that usually gains.
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Join Free →Start a brief “hunger check” routine: before snacks, client labels hunger 1-5 and chooses a 5-minute walk or toy if under 3.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome have hyperphagia, a characteristic eating disorder defined by a marked delay in the satiety response when compared to controls. This eating disorder has been particularly difficult to control. The authors taught and evaluated effectiveness of regular exercise alone, regular exercise plus healthy eating, and mindfulness-based strategies combined with exercise and healthy eating to an adolescent with this syndrome. Mindfulness-based strategies included mindful eating, visualizing and labeling hunger, and rapidly shifting attention away from hunger by engaging in Meditation on the Soles of the Feet. On average, when compared to baseline levels, there were decreases in weight with regular exercise and exercise plus healthy eating, but the most consistent and sustained changes were evidenced when mindfulness training was added to exercise and healthy eating. The adolescent continued using the mindfulness health wellness program and further reduced his weight during the 3-year follow-up period.
Behavior modification, 2008 · doi:10.1177/0145445507308582