Should you be eliminating wheat from your child's diet?

[Guest guest]

Should you be eliminating wheat from your child's diet?

By Rose D'souza, special to

CBC News

The debate still rages. Doctors and nutritionists are divided over the impact of

gluten on a child's diet.

They might be active and eat their vegetables, but could your children still

suffer from long-term health problems because they consume a diet that contains

a high amount of wheat?

A recent study at the University of land

[http://somvweb.som.umaryland.edu/absolutenm/templates/?a=1302 & z=5] reveals that

the prevalence of people suffering from gluten-intolerance and celiac disease

has significantly increased over the past 30 years.

Researchers found that more people are losing their tolerance to gluten, the

gluey protein found in wheat, barley and rye, as they grow older.

This has reignited the debate over gluten-free diets since the study undermines

the common assumption that celiac disease

[http://www.celiac.ca/celiac.php#frequently_asked_questions], in which the body

can't process gluten, is a genetic disorder discovered during childhood.

Gluten is now recognized as the cause of many common health problems in some

children, including gastrointestinal complications such as bloating, diarrhea

and constipation; and behavioural issues such as irritability and fatigue.

People with celiac disease face more serious long-term health repercussions

because their bodies are unable to absorb nutrients like protein, fat,

carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, " which are necessary for good health, " the

Canadian Celiac Association says.

But all the scare stories about gluten have provoked some parents into taking

matters into their own hands and imposing gluten-restricted diets on their own

children, a practice that doctors and nutritionists are decidedly divided over.

Trial and error

Tony Sabherwal owns an organic pizza franchise in Toronto but makes no claims to

being a nutritional expert. Still, he has become aware of the growing concerns

about healthy diets for children and when his second child was born just over 10

years ago he decided to do something about it.

Once he began examining the ingredients in the meals he was preparing for his

children, he inadvertently began removing a large amount of gluten from his

family's diet, by replacing white and whole wheat flour with healthier

alternatives such as buckwheat and quinoa.

" My children are kind of food snobs, " Sabherwal jokes, by which he means that

after years of teaching them to recognize what the right choices are for their

bodies, they have come to enthusiastically embrace their gluten-restricted diet.

His children's refusal to eat unhealthy foods runs against the trend of rising

obesity rates among young people. But in giving up gluten they are also joining

another growing group, which includes the nearly one per cent of Canadians who

are thought to be gluten intolerant.

However, many health-care professionals such as Dr. Peggy Marcon, a

gastroenterologist at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, strongly caution

parents against the Sabherwals' trial-and-error approach, especially if it calls

for the complete removal of gluten.

Dr. Marcon is skeptical about putting children on such a restricted diet if they

do not have celiac disease, warning that it is not necessarily nutritious.

In fact, she says, gluten-free foods can be quite harmful due to the extra

additives and preservatives in gluten-free products like cookies and breads. As

well, they are often high in calories - sugars and fats - to make up for the

removal of gluten.

In fact, gluten-free diets are often accompanied by a buyer-beware stigma

because many people who go on them gain weight, see an increase in their

cholesterol and continue to have vitamin deficiencies since processed

gluten-free foods can lack the nutritional benefits found in regular staples

such as bread and whole grain rice (which contains no gluten).

Too much exposure

If parents suspect their child is gluten intolerant, for which there is no

specific test, or would benefit from a healthier diet, Dr. Marcon recommends

they consult a doctor to check for the genetic markers of celiac disease and to

rule out other common illnesses with similar symptoms, such as irritable bowel

syndrome.

However, advocates of a gluten-restricted diet argue that while medical

professionals are right to be wary about advocating a wholesale change to a

child's diet, they can also be overly cautious.

Gompf, a holistic nutritionist based in Toronto, contends that the

widespread prevalence of gluten in most kid-favoured meals can eventually lead

to intolerance because " anyone who eats too much of anything will have too much

exposure and will lose the enzymes to break down foods. "

Gompf is a big advocate of home-cooked meals that force both the parent and the

child to pay closer attention to what they are eating.

She also points out that, in comparison to the Sabherwals' experience, there is

now a significant support system ranging from nutritionists like herself to

services such as Ontario's Eat Right program

[http://www.eatrightontario.ca/en/default.aspx] where parents can speak with a

registered dietitian about proper nutrition.

Once parents receive the right information, she says, they can avoid the kind of

poorly planned diets that have led health professionals to dismiss

gluten-restricted diets as just another unbalanced fad.

Watch what your child eats

As many people debate whether to go gluten-free or not - or even whether just to

reduce the amount of gluten consumed - it is clear that any diet depends on how

a child's body specifically reacts to what he or she eats.

For Krista Thomson-Nazareth, the decision to put her young sons on a

gluten-restricted diet was influenced by how her own body had responded to

certain nutritional choices. It was not simply about jumping on the gluten-free

bandwagon.

Even though her mother is a nurse and her father a family physician, she

struggled in the past to control her weight and deal with deteriorating health.

As she explored alternative health practices, she found a close connection

between diet and health, which motivated her to learn what foods suited her,

instead of solely relying on what doctors or studies said.

Now a natural health practitioner in Oakville, Ont., Thomson-Nazareth encourages

other parents to monitor their children's diet closely as a first step in

improving their nutritional health.

By doing so, she noticed that Myka, her two-and-half-year-old son, was very

reactive to certain foods, which led Thomson-Nazareth to introduce some

non-gluten grains and treats.

" This switch has been very helpful - we have noticed a huge improvement, " she

says. " At the end of the day, Myka is much happier and calms down easier. "

At the same time, many parents are turned off by the idea of gambling with their

child's diet.

Markian Chorostil refuses to put his six-year-old son on a gluten-restricted

diet. " No, I wouldn't do it unless I educate myself, " says Chorostil, a former

physiotherapist who recently became a firefighter.

While he has introduced his son to gluten-free grains like quinoa, Chorostil

believes that it is up to his son to decide what foods he prefers, within the

limits set by Chorostil and his wife.

However, Chorostil agrees with Thomson-Nazareth that parents must conduct their

own research before blindly accepting what can be conflicting professional

advice.