Dietary Counseling and Long-term Management in Pediatric Celiac Disease

Single counseling session using the Gluten-Free Food Guide produced measurable short-term improvements in diet quality for children newly diagnosed with celiac disease, the recent pilot randomized trial reports.

The study enrolled children with newly diagnosed pediatric celiac disease and their caregivers used the Healthy Eating Index–Canadian (HEI‑C) to quantify diet quality. The intervention arm — a one-time 45–60‑minute counseling session — showed higher total HEI‑C scores and greater adequacy and variety at three months compared with control, indicating an early, clinically appreciable improvement in dietary metrics.

By six months the intervention group’s HEI‑C scores and dietary variety had regressed toward baseline, showing the effect was not sustained. Because the protocol relied on a single counseling contact, the trial cannot define how repeated or reinforced support would affect long-term diet quality; a one-off session appears insufficient for durable change without follow-up.

Clinically, the trial supports integrating ongoing nutritional support into follow-up for pediatric celiac disease rather than relying on a single education session. Programs caring for these patients may incorporate scheduled touchpoints and longitudinal HEI‑C monitoring to evaluate and sustain diet-quality gains over time.

Key Takeaways:

• One Gluten‑Free Food Guide counseling visit produced early gains in HEI‑C scores and dietary variety at three months in children with newly diagnosed celiac disease.
• This applies to children newly diagnosed with pediatric celiac disease and their care teams, reflecting the study population and measured outcomes.
• Care programs should plan for repeated dietitian contacts and routine diet-quality measurement if the goal is sustained improvement.