Spring/summer born children more likely to have coeliac disease

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children have found that children born in Massachusetts in spring or summer have a higher incidence of coeliac disease. The cause of coeliac disease is unknown, but potential triggers include the timing of infants’ introduction to gluten and exposure to viruses during their first year of life. Children are typically given a gluten food around six months of age, which would coincide with the start of the winter cold season.

Researchers led by Dr Pornthep Tanpowpong studied 382 patients with biopsy-confirmed coeliac disease, and found that in children above the ages of 15 years, whether they were born in a light season (March to August) or a dark season (September to February) made no difference. But in the 317 children under the age of 15, 57% had been born in a light season and 43% had been born in a dark season.

These findings offer potential to rethink when some children first start eating cereals or gluten-containing foods. Other season-of-birth factors merit investigation, such as sunlight exposure and vitamin D status.

Source: Digestive Disease Week

 

Click here for more research on coeliac disease

 

 

Top of page

If you found this article interesting, you will find many more general articles and research reports on coeliac disease here, and lots of information on the management of coeliac disease here.
You can also find articles and research reports on gluten intolerance here and articles on a wide range of other digestive conditions here.

For hundreds of gluten free foods see our freefrom food section here, and for nearly 800 gluten-free recipes see here.

And if you would like to get our FREE fortnightly e-newsletter with new products, recipes, articles and all the latest news from the allergy and freefrom world, just sign up here.