IN SHORT
What: Inside NZ: Insatiable Hunger
Where: TV3
When: 9.30pm, Thursday
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NEW Zealand may have a growing obesity problem, but for the young people in Inside NZ: Insatiable Hunger, their weight issues really aren’t their fault.
They suffer from a disease where their stomachs are unable to tell their brains that they are full, and they always think that they are starving. Insatiable Hunger follows four Kiwi families with children suffering from the devastating effects of Prader-Willi syndrome.
Despite the obvious shortcomings of a disease that puts sufferers in danger of literally eating themselves to death, Prada-Willi syndrome is coupled with other cruel side- effects. Low muscle tone limiting exercise and a slow metabolism make overeating even more dangerous, while behavioural problems make life even harder for sufferers’ loved ones, who are already dealing with padlocking food in the cupboard and keeping sufferers out of rubbish bins.
Each year two Kiwi children are diagnosed with this non- inherited lifelong and life-threatening disease. It does not discriminate between race or gender, and it is not known what causes it. Ironically, the disease which will cause these children to balloon begins with stunted growth, and stunted development.
Though Prada-Willi syndrome has no known cure, regular growth hormone injections have been proven to reduce fat and improve muscle tone, significantly helping with obesity and related complications. Yet though these injections are funded in other countries, Kiwi kids face an ongoing battle trying to qualify for the treatment in New Zealand. Pharmac, the government drug-governing agency, has strict criteria for funding the treatment, which many Prada-Willi syndrome kids do not fit into.
Inside New Zealand: Insatiable Hunger follows four young people suffering from the disease at different stages of their lives. Tiny, doll-like 18-month-old Amelia Reid, only sat up by herself at 14 months of age. Amelia needs to have the growth hormone treatment so she can have a chance at developing normally.
Three-year-old Cameron O’Reilly’s parents have been paying more than $10,000 a year for him to have the treatment. Cameron has finally nailed the art of walking, and with his growth hormone treatment has been able to graduate to the big kids’ section at kindy. However, this may be Cameron’s last year with free access to food and treats because the insatiable appetite will kick in sometime between now and five years old.
In Northland, 11-year-old Darcy Harris faces being shifted out of the mainstream education system because of the behavioural problems caused by the disorder. Stealing his classmates’ lunches and his violent outbursts are putting a lot of pressure on the staff at his small rural school.
Francie Thornton, 22, is of the old era of Prada-Willi syndrome sufferers. She is not eligible for the growth hormone treatment, and will be forced out of her sheltered flat if she can’t control her eating — and her temper. She is strictly monitored by minders, and should be on a 1000-calorie a day diet, but Francie is resourceful.
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(c) 2008 Dominion Post. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
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