A free, family-friendly resource based on comprehensive evidence about gluten and celiac disease, yet easy to understand and use.
When Lisa Rigney’s daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease six years ago, one word came to her mind.
“I was overwhelmed,” Rigney recalls. “It was a very, very overwhelming experience.”
Celiac disease, a disorder that causes the body to overreact to gluten in foods such as barley, rye, and wheat, damages the lining of the intestines, preventing proper absorption of nutrients vital to health.
Rigney, who had no family history of the disease, knew next to nothing about it, but she had to immediately make fundamental changes in her child’s diet.
“I knew that celiac disease was associated with a gluten-free diet, but that was as far as I knew.”
His always “eyes closed” trips to the grocery store had now become a careful exercise in reading package labels.
Even after shifting her daughter to gluten-free foods, Rigney still had nagging questions about whether the meals contained enough fiber and nutrients.
“He was lethargic the first few days of the diet, so is he getting what he needs?”
The whole experience “was a steep learning curve,” Rigney recalls, with so many details to learn.
That journey will now be a little easier for families like the Rigneys, thanks to a new gluten-free food guide created specifically for children and teens by University of Alberta nutrition researcher Diana Mager, pediatrics professor Justine Turner and colleagues.
Mager, a registered dietitian and professor in the College of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences and the School of Medicine, says the guidelines broadly address the nutritional needs of children with celiac disease and include limitations on gluten-free diets that may affect those needs. & Dentist.
“We wanted to develop a comprehensive resource for families on how to start a gluten-free diet to take some of the burden of worrying about whether their children are eating healthy.”
The 40-page document, available for free online, helps answer many of the questions families have when a child is diagnosed with celiac disease.
“There are so many changes to be made, including cooking, recipes, food shopping, and questions about children’s ongoing development and growth, so we wanted to provide a nutrition-based tool that provides ongoing resources in collaboration with dietitian support,” says Mager.
He notes that meeting the nutritional needs of children with celiac disease is especially important.
“This is a very important period of growth and development. “Children, especially those who are not diagnosed until adulthood, often have poor bone health at a very early age, which puts them at risk of bone fractures in the long term.”
Although a gluten-free diet is the mainstay of treating celiac disease, it also has some nutritional limitations, such as high fat or sugar content in processed gluten-free foods and low levels of folate, a vitamin important for healthy cell growth and function. .
Mager says the research-based guide is a science-based resource for families who often search online for nutrition information.
“There are many nutritional myths about gluten-free dieting on the internet. For example, if the recommendation is to eliminate wheat from the child’s diet, this will not solve the problem because there are other grains that contain gluten.
“It was important for us to develop a tool that could provide evidence-based guidelines to consumers.”
Rigney, program coordinator for the Edmonton chapter of Celiac Canada, who helped develop the guide, says having the guide would have made “a huge difference” in learning how to plan a healthy diet for her daughter years ago.
“It involves little things like pairing foods to improve nutrient absorption. “This is something that healthcare professionals would know, but the general population doesn’t need to know.”
Taking a multifaceted approach over the past five years, the research team surveyed parents of children with celiac disease, doctors, nurses and dietitians across Canada about what they would like to see in a food guide for teens.
The researchers also examined the dietary patterns of Canadian children and teenagers with celiac disease and examined similar data from other countries. They then developed more than 1,000 simulated gluten-free menus that were nutritionally complete for youth ages four to 18.
“From this, we developed a plate model of various food options for what children and young people should consume in a day to promote healthy eating.”
They recommend filling just over half of your plate with fruits and vegetables and eating gluten-free grains like pasta or rice and proteins like seeds, nuts, fish, eggs and other animal proteins. The serving plan also includes a serving of unsweetened milk or a fortified plant-based beverage.
Mager says the content and layout of the guide was also evaluated by focus groups of children, their families and healthcare professionals to make sure it was easy to read, especially for young people.
At a glance, color photos show the many gluten-free healthy food options available.
“We wanted it to be user-friendly so that a six-year-old child can recognize different foods. A child who does not follow a gluten-free diet faces many challenges in his life, such as social events. Children want to fit in with their peers, so they want to know what they can eat, not what they cannot eat.”
Topics covered in the guide include a comprehensive outline of the key elements of a gluten-free diet, such as iron, fibre, legumes, healthy fats and natural sugars, which are important for young people involved in sports.
“They wanted to know what the better food options were for dealing with issues like bone health.”
There is also a list of which grains are and are not gluten-free and how to cook and store gluten-free foods. Recipes for vegetarian, vegan, and lactose intolerant diets are also included.
The guide shows you how to read nutrition labels and ingredient lists on gluten-free processed foods. It also offers tips on grocery shopping, eating on a budget, eating out, and preparing healthy school lunches and snacks.
“People wanted materials their kids could relate to, so they would know how to stick to a gluten-free diet if they were buying their own groceries.
“It also helps parents come up with new ideas to make gluten-free meals delicious, fun, and not making the same thing over and over again.”
He says the guide Rigney keeps in his kitchen is an “invaluable” resource. “With all the information in one place, you can refer to it and educate yourself over and over again.”
This article is presented by the University of Alberta. foil online magazine, Troy Media Editorial Content Provider Partner.
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