title: Coeliac disease screening among a large cohort of overweight/obese children.
abstract: Coeliac disease (CD) is a chronic, gluten-dependent enteropathy with a prevalence of approximately 1% in Western countries. Up to now, CD has been described only in sporadic cases of obesity. Our study aimed to evaluate retrospectively CD prevalence in a large series of overweight/obese children and adolescents. Among the 1527 overweight/obese children and adolescents consecutively evaluated, 17 (7 boys, 1.11%) were positive for serology and showed villous atrophy. In all of the patients with CD a well-balanced gluten-free diet was started, and a loss of weight rapidly obtained. Our study demonstrates that CD prevalence in overweight/obese children is similar to the general paediatric population in Italy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics and Paediatric Neuropsychiatry, "La Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Raffaella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nenna
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mosca
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mennini
authors.forename: Raffaele E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Papa
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Petrarca
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mercurio
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montuori
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piedimonte
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bavastrelli
authors.forename: Ilaria C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: De Lucia
authors.forename: Margherita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bonamico
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vania
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D055050:Diet, Gluten-Free; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications; D050177:Overweight / Q000150:complications*; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012384:Rome / Q000453:epidemiology; D015431:Weight Loss; D055815:Young Adult