Abstract
Gluten-related disorders (GRDs) are increasing around the world, but their magnitude and relevance remain unknown in most Latin American countries. Thus, an online survey was conducted to estimate the prevalence of GRDs as well as adherence to a gluten-free diet (GFD) in Paraguayan adult population. There were 1058 individuals surveyed using a validated questionnaire (response rate of 93.9%). The self-reported prevalence rates were as follows (95% CI): gluten sensitivity (GS), 10.30% (8.53–12.29); non-celiac GS (NCGS), 5.19% (3.94–6.71); physician-diagnosed ce-liac disease (PD-CD), 3.11% (2.15–4.35); wheat allergy (WA), 2.07% (1.30–3.13); and adherence to GFD, 15.69% (13.55–18.02). Excluding CD, more women than men met the criteria for GRDs, adverse food reactions, and GFD (p < 0.05). Eight respondents reported the coexistence of NCGS with PD-CD and/or WA. Most cases on a GFD indicated medical/dietitian advice for following the diet (68.07%). Non-self-reported GS individuals indicated weight control (46.4%) and the notion that the GFD is healthier (20.2%) as the main motivations for following the diet. GRDs are not uncommon in Paraguayan adult population. It seems that there is awareness about GRDs and the GFD, but training about the diagnosis of GRDs is desirable because of the informed overlapping diagnoses of CD or WA with NCGS. Future studies involving face-to-face interviews are necessary.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 396 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-12 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Nutrients |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Acknowledgments: The authors wish to thank the Mexican Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT) for the post-graduate fellowships given to O.G.F.-S and J.G.A.-G., as well as INAPI Sinaloa (Young Scientific Talents, 2019 program) for the financial support given to C.E.B.-C.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords
- Celiac disease
- Glu-ten-free diet
- Gluten-related disorders
- Non-celiac gluten sensitivity
- Wheat allergy