A weight loss and behavioral management program for children with Prader-Willi Syndrome and other weight-related disorders
Search no further for inpatient obesity treatment
Individuals with established weight control problems, including Prader-Willi Syndrome, face significant obstacles that often impact all aspects of life. The excessive weight gain, food-seeking tendencies, challenging behaviors, and learning difficulties associated with PWS and other conditions can leave individuals and caregivers feeling anxious.
There are many challenges that can become overwhelming to the point where an inpatient childhood obesity program or adult obesity program can be beneficial. Enter the Jump Start Program, the only inpatient program in the country. Addressing both behavioral and medical needs, Nexus helps individuals in childhood through adulthood have more active, healthy bodies while we’re mending minds.
Helping Individuals get a jump start on their goals
1-4.5 lb. average weekly weight loss velocity
Improved eating habits
23% average BMI decrease for discharged patients
Enhanced self-confidence and recognition of personal strengths & abilities
Strengthened peer connections
Check out the following video to learn more about Nexus’ Jump Start Program.
Is your patient or child ready to start their Jump Start journey?
Contact us for more information or to refer a patient.
Treating obesity and behavioral challenges
Individuals with established weight control problems, including childhood obesity and PWS, often need a safe, structured environment to help them reach weight loss and general health and wellness goals. Jump Start Program features include:
- Individualized plan that addresses medical issues and behavioral complications
- Designed for all individuals who have found traditional outpatient programs unsuccessful
- Emotional and social support for individuals and families
- Physical, occupational, speech, recreational, music, art, and pet therapies
- Homebound teacher that is on campus four days a week
- Specialized Schroth Method Scoliosis intervention
- Master treatment team meetings held once a week to review each individual’s goals and progress
Offering a welcoming, home-like setting, the Jump Start Program helps patients decrease BMI while addressing weight-related conditions. Program goals include:
- Decrease body mass index (BMI)
- Increase physical mobility
- Resolve weight-related conditions
- Develop strategies to manage behavior
- Decrease unstructured time
- Develop coping skills for at home, school, or in the community
- Improve overall quality of life*
*The continued support and structure provided by family members, caregivers, and friends is imperative to the ongoing success of PWS management
Jump Start Program services
- Occupational Therapy
- Physical Therapy
- Psychiatry & Behavioral Management
- Recreational Therapy
- Speech Therapy
- Wound Care
Meet a Jump Start Program success story
“Nexus helped tremendously with the weight loss. They put Kale on an amazing diet plan that we still follow at home today. Nexus also assisted him with becoming more stable and mobile through physical and occupational therapy.”
— Danika, patient’s mother
The only nationally recognized weight loss program for indivduals with PWS
During their stay, patients adjust to personalized calorie-controlled diets, learn how to set schedules, and develop physiological and emotional strength through physical, occupational, speech, recreational, music, and pet-based therapies. Through daily practice, guidance from medical professionals, and peer support, patients learn principles of healthy living that can be applied at home.
Diagnosis Criteria
- Individual with PWS*
- Body mass index (BMI) greater than 35
- At least 2 comorbidities
- Other rare genetic disorders
*Patients with a PWS diagnosis do not have to meet other criteria upon admission
Common Comorbid Conditions
- Type II diabetes and associated complications
- Hypertension and heart disease
- Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)
- Fatty liver
- Obesity hypoventilation syndrome
- Intertrigo (skin breakdown, yeast, and bacterial infections in deep fat folds)
- Leg edema
- Mobility issues
- Cellulitis
- Venous stasis disease with risk of thrombotic events
Don’t have a Prader-Willi Syndrome diagnosis? — Learn more now
PWS is a rare genetic disorder that affects learning and behavior resulting from an abnormality on the 15th chromosome. People with this genetic condition experience delayed or deficient satiation cues, causing them to overeat. To complicate matters further, those with PWS have unusually low caloric needs. The combination of these symptoms can lead to life-threatening conditions such as catastrophic obesity and stomach rupture, as well as maladaptive behaviors.
In pursuit of the feeling of fullness, individuals often develop powerful food-seeking habits. Some forage for food, consuming inedible products — such as raw, frozen, or spoiled food — out of desperation. Others place unauthorized delivery orders or strike out in search of restaurants. As this behavior escalates, individuals often resort to lying and stealing, sometimes breaking into neighbors’ houses or picking locks on kitchen cabinets. At the same time, caregivers may overestimate the individual’s caloric needs and unknowingly contribute to overeating.
Due to the rarity of the condition (affecting roughly 1 in 10,000 to 30,000 people worldwide1), robust programs that address both the medical and behavioral aspects of PWS are difficult to find. The Jump Start Program is the only nationally recognized inpatient program offering comprehensive care for people with weight-related conditions such as PWS.