Woman locks obese 5yo who has Prader-Willi syndrome out of the kitchen

A mother has been forced to put a baby gate on her kitchen as a rare condition has left her five-year-old girl constantly hungry.

A five-year-old girl weighs 44kg due to a rare condition that constantly leaves her hungry for more food. Picture: Caters News Agency

A five-year-old girl weighs 44kg due to a rare condition that constantly leaves her hungry for more food.

Mum Holly Williams, 25, from the UK, has resorted to putting a baby gate in the kitchen so that daughter Harlow can’t overeat.

Harlow has Prader-Willi syndrome and is missing chromosome 15, which is responsible for controlling hunger. Therefore, Harlow constantly has an appetite and always wants to eat, the New York Post reports.

“Having a baby gate on the kitchen door helps with making sure that Harlow isn’t getting into cupboards in the kitchen,” Holly said.

Harlow, five, has Prader-Willi syndrome. Picture: Caters News Agency

“In [the] future I will have to take further measures, and as Harlow gets older I will more than likely have to get locks for the kitchen.”

At just six months old, Harlow was diagnosed with the syndrome, which her mum had never heard of before.

Prader-Willi syndrome is a rare genetic disorder, according to the Mayo Clinic, and can manifest in physical, mental and behavioural problems in those who have it.

A lot of the complications of the disease are due to obesity.

Having Prader-Willi has delayed Harlow’s ability to reach certain milestones. She couldn’t hold her head up until she was eight months old and didn’t walk until she was two and a half years old.

Holly Williams says she has to use a baby gate to block her kitchen as the disorder leaves her daughter constantly hungry for more food. Picture: Caters News Agency

“We knew something was wrong when Harlow was born,” Holly said. “She was really floppy, had no strength, didn’t cry, and wouldn’t feed properly on a bottle.”

Now that Holly finally has some answers about her daughter’s condition, she is taking proper measures to make sure she stays healthy.

She says that she has to be stern with the five-year-old about how much she eats, but with some exceptions.

“Harlow is overweight at the moment, so I have to be stern with her and tell her she can’t have any more to eat after she has had a meal,” the mum explained.

Harlow was diagnosed with the syndrome when she was just six months old and due to the genetic disorder, she can never tell when she is full. Picture: Caters News Agency

“I make sure she has a healthy and balanced diet, but she is still allowed treats, as she is just a child after all, so I don’t want to completely deprive her.”

Although Harlow is in a “mainstream” school, she still struggles with things like mobility, sleep apnoea, and tantrums.

But despite all of the hardships, Holly and her daughter still have an extremely close bond and are together all the time.

Holly said she found strength in media personality Katie Price’s story, as her eldest son has the same disorder.

“It can be hard to deal with the conditions sometimes, but because Harlow is my first child, I don’t know any different,” she said.

The disorder has prompted fear in many parents.

In 2016, Manoel Abreu said he was concerned his five-year-old, who weighs 80kg, was going to die, while a mum from New Haven, Connecticut, in the US, said that her twins could potentially “eat themselves to death” one day.

This story originally appeared in the New York Post and was republished here with permission

Originally published as Woman locks obese 5yo who has Prader-Willi syndrome out of the kitchen