Holistic Approach to Celiac Patient Support: Nutritional Education of the Social Environment of People with Celiac Disease †
by
, ,
Maialen Vázquez-Polo
1,2,*
,
Virginia Navarro
1,2,
Gesala Perez-Junkera
1,2,
Idoia Larretxi
1,2,3,
Arrate Lasa
1,2,
Jonatan Miranda
1,2 and
Itziar Churruca
1,2 1
Gluten 3S Research Group, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
2
Bioaraba, Nutrition and Food Safety Group, 01009 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
3
Centro Integral de Atención a Mayores San Prudencio, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Presented at the 14th European Nutrition Conference FENS 2023, Belgrade, Serbia, 14–17 November 2023.
Proceedings 2023, 91(1), 136; https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091136
Published: 30 January 2024
(This article belongs to the Proceedings of The 14th European Nutrition Conference FENS 2023)
Abstract
:Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic, multifactorial and autoimmune-based disease. Genetically predisposed individuals respond to gluten by triggering an immune response resulting in various gastrointestinal and extra intestinal symptoms. The only treatment for the disease is a strict, lifelong gluten-free diet (GFD). The GFD aims at physical health, but at the same time, it has an enormous influence on the quality of life of people with CD, especially on a social level. People with CD have problems eating out and attending events and celebrations. Therefore, it is believed that generalized knowledge and awareness of the disease in the general population could improve their situation. To this end, various nutritional education programs have been designed and are being implemented in order to raise awareness of celiac condition among the general population. Interventions have been designed to be carried out in: (a) schools, with primary school children learning about celiac disease through games and experiments, (b) workshops in catering schools, (c) workshops in the context of science fairs for secondary school children. Early results show that participants are increasing their knowledge of GFD, and the interventions are effective in bringing the diseases closer to the general population. It is necessary to treat the disease from a broad approach, beyond physical wellbeing. Social well-being must also be sought, as it is an important and forgotten factor of the quality of life of these people.
Author Contributions
I.C., V.N. and M.V.-P. conceived and designed the study; M.V.-P. and G.P.-J. participated in the design of questionnaire; J.M., A.L. and I.L. participated in the recruitment, the data collection, and together with I.C., V.N. and M.V.-P. contributed in statistical analysis; I.C., V.N. and M.V.-P. drafted the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
Maialen Vázquez-Polo and Gesala Perez-Junkera are fellowships of the University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, and the Basque Government, respectively. The GLUTEN3S research group is supported by a grant (GIU18/78, GIU21/053) from the UPV/EHU, and it is recognized by the Basque Government (IT-1419-19). This research was funded by two grants from the University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU (University-Society US20/16 and US22/22).
Institutional Review Board Statement
The intervention was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The study was approved by the University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Ethics Committee for Human Research (M10/2020/081).
Informed Consent Statement
Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study prior to the start of the study. Schools, teachers and parents/guardians of the children agreed to participate in the study by signing an informed consent form. Members of the research group physically collected the signed informed consents forms, which were securely stored in the department of the group. The informed consent to be signed included a consent to publish the results of the intervention, in general terms, in an open access journal.
Data Availability Statement
Data are contained within the article.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
MDPI and ACS Style
Vázquez-Polo, M.; Navarro, V.; Perez-Junkera, G.; Larretxi, I.; Lasa, A.; Miranda, J.; Churruca, I. Holistic Approach to Celiac Patient Support: Nutritional Education of the Social Environment of People with Celiac Disease. Proceedings 2023, 91, 136. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091136
AMA Style
Vázquez-Polo M, Navarro V, Perez-Junkera G, Larretxi I, Lasa A, Miranda J, Churruca I. Holistic Approach to Celiac Patient Support: Nutritional Education of the Social Environment of People with Celiac Disease. Proceedings. 2023; 91(1):136. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091136
Chicago/Turabian StyleVázquez-Polo, Maialen, Virginia Navarro, Gesala Perez-Junkera, Idoia Larretxi, Arrate Lasa, Jonatan Miranda, and Itziar Churruca. 2023. "Holistic Approach to Celiac Patient Support: Nutritional Education of the Social Environment of People with Celiac Disease" Proceedings 91, no. 1: 136. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091136
