New Research: Bone Growth & Children Newly Diagnosed with Celiac

New research out today recommends doctors treating children newly diagnosed with celiac disease should be sure to check on the children’s bones.

The study published in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition compared celiac children with non-celiac children of the same age and sex and found that the celiac children were consistently shorter than their non-celiac peers. Their bone mineral content for the spine and whole body was also in a deficit. Low spine, and whole-body bone mineral content also correlated with low body mass index.

The research concluded that newly diagnosed celiac children would benefit from having their bone mineral content screened. In particular, children with low BMI should be closely watched as they may be at high risk for osteopenia (mild thinning of the bones, but not as severe as osteoporosis).

I did a little further research after learning of this study, to help out parents who say “What can I do to get my kid back on track?” One study published in 2006, showed that adolescent boys and girls benefited from added fruits and vegetables. The study pointed out that boys in particular receive the most benefit from the added foods. Try and get the fruits and veggies in girls as early as possible because once they become young women, the study says there is no extra bone benefit from the added food.

Tags: bones, celiac, osteopenia, research