Body mass index and the risk of obesity in coeliac disease treated with the gluten‐free diet

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This study, by the department of medicine and division of gastroenterology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, is examining the effect of gluten-free diet (GFD) on the BMI of biopsy diagnosed coeliac disease (CD) patients. CD is an autoimmune disorder that causes the affected individuals to be sensitive to gluten. CD patients may experience many gastrointestinal symptoms such as: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and weight loss. In this study, most diagnosed CD patients were found to have underweight or normal weight, when compared with the population in the same area (data for these population were obtained from NHIS 2007).

The effect of GFD on the BMI was examined by measuring the initial BMI (when they were initially diagnosed with CD), and after 39 months (where they were strictly following GFD). The major finding of the 679 tested patients, 65% of the underweight patients had significant increase in their BMI after adhering to the GFD and they become in the normal BMI category. Patients who started as normal weight, only 17% of them became in the overweight or obese category. Similarly,17% of the overweight patients became obese. Because high BMI is a risk factor for many of the chronic disorders, dietitians and health care professional need to take into account the importance of maintaining CD patients weight within the normal level. Further studies need to measure that factors associated with GFD and change the BMI.


A.K.B



Kabbani, T. A., Goldberg, A., Kelly, C. P., Pallav, K., Tariq, S., Peer, A., ... & Leffler, D. A. (2012). Body mass index and the risk of obesity in coeliac disease treated with the gluten‐free diet. Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics, 35(6), 723-729.



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