Six years ago, when Lisa Rigney’s daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease, one word came to mind.
“I was blown away,” Rigney recalled. “It was a very, very overwhelming experience.”
A disease in which the body overreacts to gluten, which is found in foods such as barley, rye, and wheat. celiac disease It damages the lining of the intestines and prevents the proper absorption of nutrients essential to health.
Although there was no family history of the disease and Rigney knew little about it, she needed to make immediate and fundamental changes to her child’s diet.
“I knew celiac disease was related to being gluten-free, but that was the extent of my knowledge.”
Grocery shopping, which she used to do with her eyes closed, has now become an exercise in carefully reading package labels.
And even after switching her daughter to gluten-free foods, Rigney still had nagging doubts about whether her diet contained enough essential fiber and nutrients.
“When she first started the diet, she felt lethargic and wondered if she was getting what she needed.”
There were so many details to learn, and the whole experience was “a steep learning curve,” Rigney recalls.
A new system could make that journey a little easier for families like the Rigneys. gluten free food guide Created specifically for children and youth by nutrition researchers at the University of Alberta diana magerProfessor of Pediatrics Justin Turner and their colleague.
The guide broadly addresses the nutritional needs of children with celiac disease, including gluten-free dietary restrictions that may impact those needs, says R.D. Dietitian and Agricultural Life and Environmental Scientist said Major, a professor in the Department and School of Medicine. &dentistry.
“We’ve created a comprehensive resource for families on how to get started on a gluten-free diet to take some of the burden off of worrying about whether your child is eating healthy. I wanted to develop it.”
This 40-page document, available for free online, helps answer some of the many questions families have when their child is diagnosed with celiac disease.
“There are so many things that need to change: cooking, recipes, food shopping, and questions about your child’s ongoing development and growth. That’s why we’re working with nutritionists to provide ongoing resources for nutrition-based “We wanted to give people the tools they need,” says Mager.
Meeting the nutritional needs of children with celiac disease is especially important, she points out.
“This is a pivotal time for growth and development. In particular, children often have poor bone health at a very young age, which remains undiagnosed until adulthood, putting them at risk for long-term fractures.” be exposed to.”
Additionally, while a gluten-free diet is the cornerstone of celiac disease treatment, gluten-free processed foods contain high levels of fat and sugar, and low levels of folic acid, a vitamin important for healthy cell growth and function. There are also nutritional limitations, such as low levels of .
She points out that the guide, based on research by Meijer and her collaborators, is a science-based resource for families who often search for nutritional information online.
“There are a lot of nutritional myths about gluten-free diets on the internet. For example, even if the advice is to eliminate wheat from your child’s diet, that doesn’t make sense because there are other grains that contain gluten. It’s not a solution.
“It was important to us to develop a tool that could provide evidence-based guidelines to consumers.”
This guide would have made a “huge difference” in learning how to plan healthy meals for her daughter years ago, says Rigney, program coordinator for the Edmonton branch. celiac disease canadawhich helped develop the guide.
“It involves little tricks like combining foods to improve absorption of nutrients. That’s something medical professionals know, but the general public doesn’t necessarily know.”
Over the past five years, the research team took a multifaceted approach, working with doctors, nurses and nutritionists across Canada to survey parents of children with celiac disease to find out what they want from a food guide for adolescents.
Researchers also studied the dietary patterns of children and youth with celiac disease in Canada. reviewed similar data From other countries. They then developed his over 1,000 mock gluten-free menu. nutritionally complete For youth ages 4 to 18.
“From there, we developed a plate model of several food choices that children and young people should consume throughout the day to promote healthy eating habits.”
Their recommendations are to fill just over half of your plate with fruits and vegetables, and eat gluten-free grains like pasta and rice, as well as proteins like seeds, nuts, fish, eggs, and other animal proteins. The offer plan also includes his one serving of unsweetened milk or a plant-based fortified beverage.
The content and layout of the guide rated Focus groups of children, their families, and medical professionals helped ensure that the book is especially readable for young people, Mager noted.
Colorful photos show at a glance that there are many healthy gluten-free food options.
“We wanted it to be user-friendly so that a 6-year-old can identify different foods. Not adhering to a gluten-free diet creates many challenges in a child’s life, including social events. Children want to fit in with their friends, so they want to know what they can eat, not what they can’t.”
Topics covered in this guide include a comprehensive overview of important gluten-free dietary essentials for teens involved in sports, including iron, fiber, legumes, healthy fats, and natural sugars. It contains.
“They wanted to know what are better food options to address issues like bone health.”
It also includes a list of grains that are and are not gluten-free, as well as instructions on how to prepare and store gluten-free foods. Recipes also include vegetarian, vegan, and lactose-intolerant diets.
In addition to that information, this guide also shows you how to read nutrition labels and ingredient lists on gluten-free processed foods. We also provide tips on grocery shopping, eating on a budget, eating out, and preparing healthy school lunches and snacks.
“People wanted content that their children could relate to, so if teenagers were buying their own food, they would know how to maintain a gluten-free diet.
“It also helps parents think of new ideas to make gluten-free meals tasty, fun, and to avoid feeding the same thing over and over again.”
Rigney keeps the guide in her kitchen, which she says is an “invaluable” resource.
“All the information is in one place so you can refer to it again and again to retrain yourself.”
The guide’s easy-to-understand format also makes it suitable for general practice dietitians who don’t have expertise in gluten-free diets as a patient handout, Mager added.
The guide is currently being shared with children and their families participating in an ongoing clinical study, and early results show that newly diagnosed children over a six-month period, including eating more fruits and vegetables, It has been shown to help children eat better, she said.
Researchers will continue to measure the guide’s impact on health as well as other lifestyle factors, such as whether it helps families shop smarter to cope with high food costs.
Meanwhile, Rigney says the guide will give parents like her “peace of mind” and give their children the confidence to eat a healthy gluten-free diet.
“It definitely empowers children to understand their diet and how it affects their overall health.”
Food guide research and development Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation through Women’s and Children’s Health Research Institute, provided graduate scholarships or summer studentships to Amanda Liu, Samantha Silcott, and Rita Jiang. Funding was also provided. Alberta Health Services Maternal Neonatal and Adolescent Strategic Clinical Network and Diabetes, Obesity and Nutrition Strategic Clinical NetworkCeliac Disease Canada JA Campbell Doctoral Research Award and edmonton and calgary chapter. Diana Mager and Justine Turner are members of the Women’s and Children’s Health Research Institute.
Learn more about the new guide
Listen to Diana Mager’s songs podcast How parents can take advantage of the Meal Guide and its related resources. she also Free webinar on Thursday, January 25th from 5:00 p.m. She talks about why she created the Gluten-Free Guide for Kids and how it can help families enjoy gluten-free meals, and answers your questions about living gluten-free.
