My 3 year old son...is he to young for a gluten diet?

Question

He has had more stomach problems. He was diagnosed with non specific gastritis and non specific colitis, he is allergic to all fruits, except bananas (well as long as we know he can have bananas, but no apples, oranges, strawberries, the list goes on.) The doctors are no help, he just has diarrhea, bloating, and gas. He belly looks like an Ethiopian until he poops. What steps do I need to take. Gluten free diet? What else can I try?

Answer 1

It sounds like he could have celiac disease and would benefit from a gluten free diet.  I have put a couple of websites about children and the difficulty of diagnosing them at that age.  The best method might be to get the blood tests done for celiac and also get the genetic tests to see if he has the genes to predispose him to CD.  Then go on a gluten free diet and see if his symptoms clear up.  If they don't, maybe a very simple diet and give his digestive tract a chance to mature.  Also, if he has celiac disease, one of the first parts of the intestine on the villi to go is the part that produces lactase- hence the dairy intolerance.  You could try Lactaid brand milk or giving him a Lactaid tablet with a meal containing dairy.  

Good luck

Answer 2

Maybe it would be wise to take him to a naturopathic doctor or nutritionist. They would be the best able to see the entire problem and recommend a dietary program. It seems like the poor kid is suffering. there are other diseases that could be the cause of the problem. Maybe he has a storage disease or an inability to properly digest fructose, or other carbohydrate. Hope this helps

Answer 3

Go to a properly accredited nutritionist. Your son is missing out on some very important foods, and you need expert advice.

If you can afford to get the allergy tests done again by another allergist, I would do that, as well. Check their credentials before you spend your money, though.

Answer 4

I would think a gluten-free diet might be a good start.

Have you taken him to a food allergist? He might be lactose intolerant? celiac disease? All sorts of food intolerances out there. The words "non-specific" lead me to believe they just can't seem to figure out what's going on.

You might try removing certain things (like no dairy for a week) and see what happens with each thing. Nice thing is, he's 3, so he won't know what he's missing. And if you do it for just a week or so, just enough to see if it makes a difference, then you really won't be affecting his nutrition that much.

Over the long term, you might want to look for a pediatric nutritionist too. If he's got a special diet, you'll want to be very careful to make sure to compensate for those things that are removed so that he doesn't miss out on any key nutrient for growth and development.

Best of luck!