Nutritional status in adolescents and young adults with screen-detected celiac disease.

Objective: To describe the nutritional status in patients with screen-detected celiac disease (CD).

Methods: Nutritional status was assessed by serum tests and anthropometric measures in 26 subjects (16 to 25 years of age) with biopsy-proven CD and 29 healthy control subjects (16 to 21 years of age) with negative tissue transglutaminase antibodies (16 to 22 years of age); all the subjects were selected from the cohort of 3654 schoolchildren.

Results: Compared with control subjects, CD patients had lower median values of whole blood folic acid (91 versus 109 nmol/L; P = 0.

Prevalence of Celiac disease among children in Finland.

Background: Wheat, rye, and barley proteins induce celiac disease, an autoimmune type of gastrointestinal disorder, in genetically susceptible persons. Because the disease may be underdiagnosed, we estimated the prevalence of the disease and tested the hypothesis that assays for serum autoantibodies can be used to detect untreated celiac disease and that positive findings correlate with specific HLA haplotypes.

Methods: Serum samples were collected from 3654 students (age range, 7 to 16 years) in 1994 and screened in 2001 for endomysial and tissue transglutaminase antibodies.

Meal patterns and food use in 10- to 11-year-old Finnish children.

Objective: To describe the meal patterns and food use on weekdays among 10- to 11-year-old Finnish children and to analyse these in relation to family's socio-economic status and the child's behaviour.

Design: Cross-sectional study on a cohort of 404 children aged 10-11 years in the rural town of Ylivieska, mid-western Finland.

Methods: A food-frequency questionnaire including questions on meal patterns and food use and the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) completed by the parents and the child together.