title: A daily comprehensive muscle training programme increases lean mass and spontaneous activity in children with Prader-Willi syndrome after 6 months.
abstract: The reduction of spontaneous physical activity (PA) and of muscle tissue are thought to be major causes of fat accretion and metabolic deterioration in Prader-Labhart-Willi syndrome (PWS). We investigated whether a generalized physical training programme in a home setting improves these parameters. The prospective study included 11 prepubertal children (mean age 8.7 years, range 5.9-11.8) with documented PWS and under continuous growth hormone treatment for at least 2.8 years. Seven children were enrolled in a training programme for several muscle groups during 4-10 minutes daily. Twelve matched children with PWS served as controls (average age 8.8 years, 6.1-11.3). Before and after training, at 6 months, PA was assessed by measuring walking distance by pedometer registration and by an activity score, and body composition by DEXA expressed as standard deviation scores (SDS) related to height. After training, lean mass (LM) increased from -1.83 to -1.48 SDS, p <0.05, whereas the controls showed no change. In the training group, walking distance and PA increased from 4.2 to 4.7 km/d and from 255 to 266 points, respectively, and these rises significantly exceeded those observed in controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children with PWS can be motivated by their families to follow a short daily training, which has general effects on PA and does increase, but not normalize LM.
authors.affiliation: Institute Growth Puberty Adolescence, Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schlumpf
authors.forename: Urs
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Eiholzer
authors.forename: Muriel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gygax
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: van der Sluis
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: l'Allemand
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000886:Anthropometry; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002149:Energy Intake; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005260:Female; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D011218:Prader-Willi Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016138:Walking
chemical_list: D013006:Growth Hormone