Patients With Celiac Disease Reported Higher Consumption of Added Sugar and Total Fat Than Healthy Individuals

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of the study was to compare the dietary pattern betweensubjects with celiac disease (CD) (cases) and subjects without (healthycontrols) CD.Methods: A case-control design study was conducted. A total of 98 subjectswith CD (age 10–23 years) were matched by age, sex, and body mass indexwith 98 nonceliac participants. A nonconsecutive 3-day food record wascompleted to assess energy, nutrient, and food intake and evaluate theparticipant’s adherence to recommendations. Differences in energy,nutrients, food consumption, and compliance with generalrecommendations between cases and control groups were assessed byStudent t test. Pearson chi-squared test was used to compare categoricalvariables. Sociodemographic, personal, and family history data werecollected.Results: Compared with the control group, the cases with CD reported asignificantly higher consumption of added sugar (P < 0.001) and total fat(P < 0.017). Mean fiber consumption was below the nutritionalrecommendations in both groups. Participants with CD consumedsignificantly lower amounts of foods rich in starch (P < 0.001) andhigher amounts of foods rich in protein such as meat, fish, and eggs(P ¼ 0.007). Subjects with CD showed a significantly lower percentageof adherence to recommendations for folic acid (53.2 vs 70.5; P < 0.001),calcium (49.0 vs 56.3; P ¼ 0.025), iron (57.4 vs 78.0; P < 0.001), andmagnesium (50.0 vs 63.9; P < 0.001).Conclusions: The subjects with CD showed a more unbalanced diet thancontrols in terms of added sugars, total fat, and micronutrient consumption.