Larger Child Diagnosed With Celiac?

[mmcdaniels]

My niece is having some serious digestive issues and will be scoped to check for Celiac next week. She is a very tall child and is also obese.

My son was quite the other extreme when he was diagnosed. He was 8 and wore a size 5.

Have others had a larger childer diagnosed with Celiac?

[Mizzo]

My DD was and still is in the 95th and 98th percentiles in ht and wt. She is 2 yrs gluten-free and we r struggling to get her BMI down some.

I have read about 30% of Celiacs are on the higher end of the curve. With a great number of the population walking around undiagnosed I'll bet that number is at the very least right if not low. Many Dr's are unfamiliar with Celiac as a whole and very few understand you can be overweight and have the disease. Hence the lack of testing, and subsequently diagnosis.

[nvsmom]

Me! I was very tall kid who stopped growing in grade 6 when I was 5'8"... I was always in the 90+ percentile for height. I wasn't heavy but I wasn't real thin; I was about 135-140lbs for the next ten years. I was diagnosed at 38.

I wish I had been gluten-free as a kid, I would have loved to have got a couple more inches.

My cousin also has celiac and she's about 5'7". She has always been thin.

[MitziG]

My dd was always 100th percentile height and weight- and is biopsy dx celiac. Since going gluten-free she slimmed down and continues to get even taller. Apparently celiac wasn't affecting her growth!

[GottaSki]

I was heavier than I should have been my entire life - including during a very active childhood while eating three healthy meals per day. At 19 I included this as a symptom to my doctor along with digestive complaints....and continued to list as one of my symptoms as my health deteriorated over the following 25 years until I was finally dx'd with Celiac Disease. The year after removing gluten I ate a bit larger meals than before dx because my digestive symptoms cleared - exercised same as always - dropped 30lbs without trying. Many believe the extra weight is caused by the body trying to hold on to everything because it is not getting the nutrients it needs due to mal-absorption. Whatever the reason - Celiacs come in all shapes and sizes with a wide range of symptoms - until the medical community spreads this information successfully many will remain undiagnosed.

It is unfortunate that even now most doctors still only know the symptoms of weight loss, big D, etc for Celiac. Frustrates me to no end how many articles are published each day that only sight this side of Celiac.

When I read your post I felt joy for your niece that she would be diagnosed while young and able to improve her health with food