Conclusions
A summary of recommendations made for gluten introduction in the countries involved in the PREVENTCD project is presented in Table 4. With regard to the scientific authorities, the Committee on Nutrition of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) recommends that it is prudent to avoid both early (less than 4 months) and late (7 or more months) introduction of gluten and to introduce gluten while the infant is still being breastfed.[35] The Committee considers that such a strategy may reduce not only the risk of CD, but also the risks of type 1 diabetes mellitus and wheat allergy. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that complementary foods can be introduced between 4 and 6 months of age; gluten-containing foods should be introduced while the infant is receiving only breast milk and not infant formula or other bovine milk products.[36] In the absence of clear evidence, it is reasonable to follow recommendations made by scientific organisations such as ESPGHAN while awaiting results of future studies (e.g. PREVENTCD project) that will shed light on the remaining uncertainties.
Declaration of funding interests
This study was supported by grants by the European Union project PreventCD (FP6–2005-FOOD-4B-36383-PreventCD) and from Komitet Nauki (Project NN407171534; contract 1715/B/P01/2008/34). The funding bodies had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data.
Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2012;36(7):607-618. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing
Comments