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 The study of more than 2 million teens who underwent medical exams
over nearly two decades also found that celiac is being diagnosed
more often now than in the past.
Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disorder that damages the small
intestine and interferes with the absorption of nutrients from food.
People with CD must avoid gluten, a protein in wheat, rye and
barley. Without following the proper diet, CD can lead to
complications such as malnutrition, low bone density, lactose
intolerance and infertility.
The new study ultimately clarifies that regardless of gluten-free
diet adherence, body measurements at late adolescence including
final height are only marginally affected, said lead study author
Dr. Amit Assa of Tel-Aviv University.
“These findings are somewhat surprising as clinicians are under the
notion that children with celiac are significantly thinner and
shorter,” Assa told Reuters Health by email.
The researchers reviewed the medical records of 2,001,353 teens in
Israel who had required medical board examinations around age 17 to
assess their eligibility for military service between 1988 and 2015.
There were 10,566 cases of celiac disease in this group.
The study team compared the teens by height, weight and body mass
index (BMI), a measure of weight relative to height.
Girls with celiac averaged about a quarter inch shorter than their
peers at 161.5 centimeters (63.58 in) in height compared to 162.1 cm
(63.82 in) for girls without the condition.
Boys with CD were similar to peers in height, but tended to weigh
less, with an average BMI of 21.2 versus 21.7 among boys without the
disorder.
After accounting for other factors like ethnic origin and
socioeconomic status, however, the differences among girls were no
longer apparent and only boys with CD were found to be significantly
smaller than boys without CD, according to the report in Archives of
Disease in Childhood.
Researchers also found that youth of “Western origin” were more
likely than others to have celiac disease, which is in line with
findings that people of European descent are more prone to the
condition.
The prevalence of diagnosed celiac disease among teens in the study
was 1.1 percent in 2015, up from about 0.5 percent in 1988,
researchers note. They credit growing awareness of the disease over
time leading to doctors diagnosing the condition in childhood more
often.
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“Traditionally, poor growth has been attributed to severe damage to
the small intestine absorptive surface leading to malabsorption of
essential nutrients,” but other factors may be involved, Assa said.
“The authors in this article speculate about influences on growth
hormone, maybe also the children have been undiagnozed for a while
with nutritional deficiencies that could have retarded their growth
before getting diagnosed,” said Maria van der Pals of Skane
University Hospital in Scania, Sweden, who was not part of the new
study.
“I think that, at an individual level, there is no need for parents
and children to be worried about this since there are so many other
factors that contribute to growth,” she told Reuters Health by
email. “As adults, the differences are negligible.”
Diet was not assessed in the study, and growth was only marginally
affected by celiac disease, Assa said.
“Celiac disease is relatively easy to treat as gluten free products
are nowadays abundant,” he said. “Hence, a child on a strict gluten
free diet is, in fact, healthy and should have normal life.”
During the first few years following CD diagnosis a child should be
evaluated for nutrient deficiencies like iron, vitamin D, zinc and
others, which can be supplemented if necessary, Assa said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2dnp2Hs Archives of Disease in Childhood,
online September 26, 2016.
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