Too Much Gluten Consumption In Early Childhood Can Damage Small Intestine, Study Finds

Consumption of foods that are rich in gluten, like bread, bun, pasta, noodles and other baked goods, in early childhood can damage the small intestine, according to a global study. The study suggested that having these food items in the first five years of life can lead to gluten intolerance.

The research further stated that this intolerance can eventually increase the risk of developing a type of eating disorder called celiac disease, which is known to harm the small intestine. Nearly one in every 100 people across the globe is affected by this disorder and over two million people worldwide are unaware about this disease, according to Celiac Disease Foundation.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) last week, focused on the association between gluten intake in early childhood and the increased risk of celiac disease among children. The research found that consuming too much gluten during the first five years of life can lead to celiac disease later in life.

For the study, the research team observed over 6,600 newborns from various parts of the world, including Germany, Sweden, Finland and the United States, for six years from 2004 to 2010. All the participants had a genetic risk of developing celiac disease and type 1 diabetes.

The researchers then checked the gluten intake of each of the participants every few months until they celebrated their fifth birthday. At the end of the study, they analyzed the results and compared it with the results of healthy children belonging to the same age group.

During the analysis, the researchers found that nearly 20 percent of the participants or 1,216 children developed celiac disease autoimmunity, study author Carin Andrén Aronsson, a researcher at the Unit for Diabetes & Celiac Disease at Lund University in Sweden, said.

Celiac disease autoimmunity is the first sign that indicates that the body has started negatively responding to the protein.

The research team also found that nearly seven percent of the participants or 450 children were diagnosed with celiac disease. Most of them developed the disorder by ages two or three, the researchers noted.

The researchers concluded that “higher gluten intake during the first 5 years of life was associated with increased risk of celiac disease autoimmunity and celiac disease among genetically predisposed children”.