Abstract.
Our aim was to evaluate body composition in a group of coeliac disease adolescents on a gluten-free diet and to re-examine them at the end of the adolescence spurt. We studied 48 patients (group 1A), 30 age-matched healthy controls (group 2A), 11 group 1A patients after 4 years (group 1B) and 11 adolescents who were age- and sex-matched with group 1B (group 2B). Weight, height, bone mineral content, fat mass, fat-free mass (FFM) and bone mineral density were evaluated using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. All parameters were lower in group 1A than in group 2A subjects (p<0.001). After 4 years, the body compartments of group 1B coeliac disease patients normalised, except for weight and FFM which remained lower than in group 2B subjects (p<0.005). In conclusion, our study demonstrates that adolescence is a period where some parameters of body composition can still be recovered.
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Carbone, M.C., Pitzalis, G., Ferri, M. et al. Body composition in coeliac disease adolescents on a gluten-free diet: a longitudinal study. Acta Diabetol 40 (Suppl 1), s171–s173 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-003-0057-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-003-0057-3