Usually, the signs of gluten intolerance or coeliac condition in children can only be seen after the age of six months when they started eating grain-based foods for the first time. However, there are cases where the small intestine's immune system reaction to gluten - a protein found in the endosperm of wheat and certain other grains except rice and corn - does not appear until the children are at school age or even up to adulthood.
Coeliac or gluten intolerance could be the reason if a child suffers from chronic diarrhea and bloating as well as having little appetite and hardly gains weight. Coeliac disease often runs in families. It is caused by the inflammation in the small intestines and damages the lining of villi, a tiny, hair like projections that absorb nutrients from foods that we eat.
It is also now known that coeliac disease affect other organs system as well, such as the nervous system, heart, liver, kidneys and skin.
A lifetime abstention of foods that contains gluten including wheat, rye and oats is the only effective treatment against coeliac disease.
Gluten can be found in products made from flour such as bread, cakes, pies, biscuits as well as in tinned food and certain kinds of sausage and cheese. It can even be use as a food stabilizer, emulsifiers, flavour enhancers, spices, separating agents and also used to thicken fruit juices.
A child who follows the strict rules of eating non-gluten foods will generally get well again in six to twelve months time. The diarrhea will generally subside and the child can again catch up on retarded growth. However, once the symptoms have disappeared, the child must maintain the strict gluten free diet or the risk of getting a bowel cancer will increased.
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