Does a Caesarean delivery increase a child’s risk of being coeliac?

A team from the Hanover Medical School in Germany under Dr Mathias Hornef studied groups of children and adolescents with Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and coeliac disease as well as other children with other gastrointestinal problems and a "control" group of children who were visiting local doctors and for unrelated conditions.

They found that 28% of the coeliac children were born by Caesarean section compared to only 19% of the other groups. They were also diagnosed at a younger age.

The researchers are not sure why Caesarean delivery might be associated with celiac disease but not Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, because the three disorders develop in some similar ways.

Abstract: www.pediatrics.org/cgi/doi/10.1542/peds.2009-2260 Pediatrics, online May 17, 2010.

Courtesy of Reuters 

 

Click here for more research on coeliac disease

 

 

Top of page

If you found this article interesting, you will find many more general articles and research reports on coeliac disease here, and lots of information on the management of coeliac disease here.
You can also find articles and research reports on gluten intolerance here and articles on a wide range of other digestive conditions here.

For hundreds of gluten free foods see our freefrom food section here, and for nearly 800 gluten-free recipes see here.

And if you would like to get our FREE fortnightly e-newsletter with new products, recipes, articles and all the latest news from the allergy and freefrom world, just sign up here.