Gluten-containing foods increase the risk of type 1 diabetes in children

This study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association 2003 Oct 1;290(13):1721-8

Study title and authors:
Early infant feeding and risk of developing type 1 diabetes-associated autoantibodies.

Ziegler AG, Schmid S, Huber D, Hummel M, Bonifacio E.
Diabetes Research Institute and Hospital München-Schwabing, Munich, Germany. anziegler@lrz.uni-muenchen.de

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14519706

Antibodies are proteins produced by the body. They are used by the immune system to detect and block the harmful effects of foreign substances such as viruses and bacteria.

Autoantibodies attack and damage the body's own healthy cells, tissues and organs. Islet cells in the pancreas produce the hormone insulin. If autoantibodies attack the islet cells then the production of insulin may be severely curtailed or stopped, so the presence of islet cell autoantibodies increases the risk of an individual developing type 1 diabetes.

The objective of the study was to determine whether breastfeeding duration, or age at introduction of gluten-containing foods influences the risk of developing islet autoantibodies. The study followed 1,610 newborn children of parents with type 1 diabetes for 5 years.

The study found there was a 300% rise in islet autoantibodies in children who received gluten-containing foods before the age of 3 months compared with children who received only breast milk until aged 3 months.

The study shows that introducing gluten-containing foods before the age of 3 months to children who have parents with type 1 diabetes significantly increases their risk of developing type 1 diabetes.