Nutrition And Care Of A Celiac Child
CD is a genetic disease that also affects the functioning of other organs and organ systems to the point that it can lead to various pathologies.
So that you expand your knowledge about the subject, now that you have a child and you need to be more alert about all the diseases that may affect him, in You are Mom we inform you.
What is gluten?
Gluten is a molecule found in many cereals, among which wheat, rye, barley and oats stand out for their use.
Your child can eat flour foods, just not those that you eat and are made from the cereals that I just mentioned. But you can eat all the edibles that are made with:
- Buckwheat
- Quinoa
- Finger millet and pearl millet (popular in Indian and African cuisines)
- Sweet corn
- Rice
How is this disease diagnosed?
There is no single test that determines that a child is celiac. Although a common method is the TTG antibody blood test.
The diagnosis of celiac disease should be based on various examinations and the collection and study of the child’s medical history. It must contain:
- Discomfort after ingestion of foods with gluten
- Family history of gluten intolerance
- If you frequently suffer from the most common pathologies associated with CD (diarrhea, otitis, anemia, rhinitis, malnutrition, tonsillitis, constipation, dermatitis, bronchial asthma, abdominal pain, sinusitis, pale skin).
Mom, the most difficult thing in diagnosis is that there is no common pattern that can be used to determine whether or not a child has the disease. The clinical symptoms differ from one patient to another. Even so, a defining test is to put the child on a gluten-free diet as a trial to see if he improves and then conclude that he does have the disease.
How is CD treated? Does it have a cure?
Celiac disease has no cure. Although with a strict diet a patient can get rid of all the discomforts that his gluten intolerance causes, they will appear if he abandons the diet and eats foods that contain this molecule.
Regarding how CD is treated, we must argue that the only treatment that exists against it is the elimination of gluten from the child’s diet.
The other associated pathologies that may appear must be treated separately.
What is the diet that celiac disease should follow?
If your child has celiac disease, the diet must be supervised by a professional, so that it does not have nutritional deficiencies, since celiac children tend to consume diets rich in fat and poor in fiber. Based on his case study, he will determine which foods to start with and from there, which to proceed with. However, by way of information we can tell you that the diet of a celiac child, in addition to the aforementioned gluten-free cereals, must be between the ingestion of:
- Dairy products
- Tubers
- Vegetables and fruits (of all kinds)
- Meat
- Egg
- Peanut
- Vegetables
- Fish
- Nuts
In addition to diet, are there other special care that should be taken with a celiac?
The foods that celiac sufferers eat should be made at home. In this way, a strict control of all the ingredients used in its preparation will be kept. Likewise, this meticulous supervision will prevent the occurrence of the so-called: cross contamination (a fact that occurs when a gluten-free food loses that characteristic when it comes into direct contact and becomes contaminated with another that contains gluten) that puts the child’s health at risk.
Now, outside the control of his diet, the celiac child must grow up and see himself as a normal child, just like the rest of the group.
This infant needs to receive family love and be surrounded by supportive attitudes such that the family, if not all, at least shares part of their diet.
Do not overprotect him and prevent him from interacting and playing with other children his age. Your condition should never be used to differentiate you from your peers, neither for you nor against you.
