Gluten-Free Diet
Teen patients at CHOP discuss how they educate their friends interested in the gluten-free diet
“I have another kid with celiac disease at my school and we talk about different foods we like or brands we’ve tried. Some are definitely better than others. A few kids will ask me if they can try some of my food if it looks good, but no one has really said they want to live gluten-free if they don’t have to.”
— Pierson, 16
“Sometimes my friends will see me eating something they think looks good so they’ll ask me for a bite or something like that. No one’s really said they want to adopt the whole gluten-free diet but they sure do like to eat my food!”
— Taylor, 13
“A lot of my friends will tell me if they see something at the store that’s gluten-free. Or if they tried something and it was good and then they saw on the package that it was gluten free, they’ll tell me about it. There’s also a couple other kids at my school who eat gluten-free so we can usually ask each other ‘what do you know about this ingredient?’ or ‘do you like it? Should I try it?”
— Joan, 14
“I haven't had anyone say they want to go gluten-free entirely, but sometimes a friend might ask to try one of my gluten-free snacks to see if it tastes any different.”
— Helen, 16
Reviewed by: Center for Celiac Disease
Date: February 2013