If you or someone you love has been recently diagnosed with coeliac disease, you could be eligible to receive gluten free foods on prescription. Simply select your country of residence, and, if you live in England, fill in your postcode to check if your area is prescribing.
Your country is prescribing gluten free foods*. Request your Glutafin Taster Box by clicking the button below to sign up.
* Please note: local policies are constantly updated, and issuing a prescription is at the discretion of your GP.
Teenage years can be hard enough to navigate, without the added complications of being diagnosed with coeliac disease. Following a strict gluten free diet can feel restrictive when teens are trying to fit in with friends, but there are ways to make it easier.
There’s no two ways about it, being a teenager can be tough. There’s huge social pressure to fit in with your friends and the last thing you want to do is to stand out from the crowd as someone who is different or ‘weird’. You want to hang out at the burger place, you want to go to parties, you want to enjoy a pizza and a movie with your mates.
When you’re following a strict gluten free diet, it can sometimes feel like all of the fun your friends are enjoying is off limits to you, but it doesn’t have to be that way. With just a little planning and some sensible choices, you can enjoy yourself every bit as much as your mates. For example:
With so many changes happening in your body, on top of being diagnosed with coeliac disease, it’s worth getting to know your school nurse so that they can give you all the support you need. You could also think about joining the patient charity – Coeliac UK. Some local Coeliac UK support groups have specialist subgroups, specifically for young people.
Remember, however tempting it may be to stray off your gluten free diet, so you can fit in with the crowd, it’s just not worth it. In the short term, you’ll feel terrible, with a return of symptoms like bloating, wind, diarrhoea and stomach pains. And if you ‘cheat’ regularly, you could cause long term damage to your gut.
As the parent of a teen who’s been diagnosed with coeliac disease, you need to understand what they are going through. As you well know, lecturing teens about doing the right thing rarely works, and coming on too heavy can actually have the opposite effect and make them rebel.
It’s better to support them by giving them what they need. This means both checking that they get the right nutrition in their diet at home, and making sure that they’re eating the right gluten free snacks in between meals.
Make sure you support them to attend any medical review appointments, including those with a dietitian where their overall health and diet can be checked. Adolescence is a time of rapid change and growth, so it’s important to make sure your teen is getting all the right nutrients from their food. Our tasty gluten free recipes will also help you to keep their gluten free diet varied and interesting.
You need to build trust that your teen will take their condition seriously and act accordingly. They won’t thank you for embarrassing them by talking to their friend’s parents or being too involved with school. It’s far better to teach them the importance of eating gluten free and trust them to make the right decisions. After all, they’ll soon be leaving home or off to college, so they need to learn to take responsibility for themselves and their diet.
Of course, they won’t always get it right, but you shouldn’t be angry with them if they make a mistake. These things happen, especially when they’re under huge social pressure to fit in with their peers. It’s much better to talk it through with them and offer suggestions about how they can do better next time.
If you or someone you love has been recently diagnosed with coeliac disease, you could be eligible to receive gluten free foods on prescription. Simply select your country of residence, and, if you live in England, fill in your postcode to check if your area is prescribing.
Your country is prescribing gluten free foods*. Request your Glutafin Taster Box by clicking the button below to sign up.
* Please note: local policies are constantly updated, and issuing a prescription is at the discretion of your GP.