Helping the Celiac Child Cope With the Gluten-Free Diet

At Receiving Diagnosis | At Home | At School | Snack Ideas

AT RECEIVING DIAGNOSIS:

  Your job as the parent of a celiac takes on an exaggerated role in coaching, teaching, creativity, strength and support far beyond the responsibilities of other parents. Your child (or you) have no other choice. TO STAY HEALTHY, THEY MUST EAT GLUTEN FREE, ALL THE TIME. Teach you child this fact.

  Temper your feelings of dismay by focussing exclusively on what you and your child can do with the diet - not on the diet's limitations. Your views and reactions to celiac disease (CD) and the gluten-free diet (GF) become your child's view of their world.

  Educate yourself first through the Canadian Celiac Association (CCA) support network and through your doctor's office. Your child looks exclusively to you,  trusts your choices unquestioningly and believes what you believe... CD is hard and unfair OR... CD. is OK when I'm careful.

  Involve your child in label reading and safe gluten-free food selection as soon as he/she is old enough to comprehend the process. Early training in the gluten-free lifestyle will result in acceptance as well as empowering the child to make safe food choices by recognizing potential danger.

  Be sensitive to your child's feeling - although your child's gluten-free diet will mean additional work and consideration, be careful not to lay a guilt trip on your child by making the diet seem like a burden. Treat the gluten-free diet as a labour of love, and not as drudgery.

  The child is special not different.

AT HOME:

  Be diligent in training your child to adhere to the gluten-free diet.

  Make sure everyone who may possibly offer your child food knows that your child has celiac disease. Have a comprehensive list of foods/ingredients (such as the Pocket Dictionary available from the Canadian Celiac Association) that your child must avoid posted in your home for caregivers to refer to. Distribute this same list to friends and relatives. Remember that people who do not live with celiac disease on a day to day basis will have a hard time remembering where the hidden gluten is lurking.

  Be adamant about the importance of your child following the gluten-free diet. The temptation may very well be to slack off unless you are firm and unbending on this issue.

  Allocate a special section of your kitchen and your fridge for the celiac child. Make this a gluten-free zone, off limits to others in the family.

a special cupboard, with your child's own toaster, cutting board, and gluten-free foods.

crisper and/or section in the fridge, with the celiac's butter, peanut butter, snacks etc.

area of counter space, and place at the table.

  Put coloured stickers on food items in the kitchen that will enable the celiac child to know without question what is or isn't safe for them to eat.

  If your child is invited out, check with the parents ahead of time to see what is going to be served for refreshments, and send along appropriate substitutions.

  When shopping, be patient, understanding and extra creative when you child feels anxious, intimidated and left out of the advertised food fads.

AT SCHOOL:

  Start by sitting down with the teacher before the beginning of the school year. Give the teacher some literature about celiac disease (The CCA prints a brochure for teachers), along with a comprehensive list of foods/ingredients that your child must avoid. Ask the teacher to have every adult who will be serving as an instructor or an aide to read this information before school starts. Have the teacher post a notice about your child's food intolerances for any substitutes who might be in the classroom during the year.

  If you feel that bathroom privileges may pose a problem, be sure to discuss this with the teacher.

  If your child is in a school where snacks are served, talk about the various OK snacks and offer to supply GF snacks on occasion.

  Be prepared for birthday and holiday treats. Bake chocolate and vanilla cupcakes at the beginning of the year and freeze them in individual bags. These can be quickly defrosted, and a frosting added when needed.

  Supply the teacher with enough copies of your name and address, along with a brief explanation of your child's dietary concerns, to distribute to the other parents in the child's class. Ask the teacher for a schedule of names and dates for parents to supply snacks. Then you can make certain of the snack that day by phoning a few days in advance to ask what they are bringing, and you have time to prepare something similar but gluten-free.

  Give the teacher a box of ‘just in case' cookies at the beginning of the school year. This way your child won't be the only one without a special treat if a special occasion arises that you were not aware of.

  If your child is older, and attending a school with a cafeteria, visit the cafeteria at the beginning of the school year and actually read the labels of items that you feel may be gluten-free. Call the companies that you are able to and let your child know which items would be safe choices. Although main dinner items will likely be too risky, the opportunity to select an item and go to the cafeteria with friends may be important to the celiac.

  Discuss these situations with your child. Respect their wishes - some may feel comfort in others being made aware of celiac disease and other children may prefer it handled more quietly and confidentially to avoid being singled out.

  School snacks present an opportunity for you to persuade other parents to choose more healthy snack choices than always supplying cupcakes. The teacher will likely offer a great deal of assistance towards this end as well.

  If the teacher is receptive (and you have the time), research the library and create a small class cookbook of unique snack ideas for the teacher to circulate. It will help stimulate parents to "get out of the rut" and make healthy food more fun - not always gluten-free, but an opportunity for more gluten-free choices like raw fruits and vegetables.

GLUTEN FREE SNACK IDEAS

  fresh fruit slices together or separately

  most canned fruit

  cheddar cheese cubes

  raisins

  pumpkin or sunflower seeds

  nuts (but other children might have allergies)

  popcorn

  corn chips and corn nuts (3 yrs and over)

  carrot and/or celery sticks with peanut butter (make sure it is a gluten-free brand) as a dip

  GF yogurt

  fruit popsicles (always check to see if GF)

  rice crackers with gluten-free peanut butter

  mini muffins from any GF mix

  gluten-free fruit juices

  gluten-free granola bars

  dried fruit (make your own)

Thank you to the Calgary Chapter for this information published in the Calgary Celiac News - Winter 1997