1Department of Food and Nutrition Science, Al-Quwayiyah College of Sciences and Humanities, Shaqra University, Shaqraa 11971, Saudi Arabia
2Department of Food Sciences and Nutrition, College of Food and Agriculture, King Saud University,
International Journal of Celiac Disease.
2023,
Vol. 11 No. 1, 4-8
DOI: 10.12691/ijcd-11-1-2
Copyright © 2023 Science and Education PublishingCite this paper: Sehad N. Alarifi, Maha H. Alhussain. Dietary Challenges in Adults with Celiac Disease in Saudi Arabia.
International Journal of Celiac Disease. 2023; 11(1):4-8. doi: 10.12691/ijcd-11-1-2.
Correspondence to: Sehad N. Alarifi, Department of Food and Nutrition Science, Al-Quwayiyah College of Sciences and Humanities, Shaqra University, Shaqraa 11971, Saudi Arabia. Email:
snalarifi@su.edu.saAbstract
Gluten free diet is the only proven treatment for celiac disease. This study aims to investigate the dietary challenges of adults with celiac disease. A web-based survey was completed by adult patients diagnosed with CD across Saudi Arabia. The survey included questions exploring demographics, the challenges in their diet as well as questions about their behaviour of eating out. Most of the participants were females and more than half are living in Riyadh. Furthermore, 65.7% were diagnosed by bowel biopsy and 72.3% were diagnosed for more than 1 year, 95.8% are following a gluten-free diet but 51.8% are not under a nutritional program 57.1% are not following up with a dietitian. Furthermore, 96.4% of participants considered restaurants are problems in providing gluten-free food and 86.1% are avoiding restaurants. This study concluded that adults with celiac disease are following GFD without follow -up with health care providers (HCPs), this can lead to increase many complications of this disease. Moreover, increasing the awareness about CD and GFD is important among patients, HCPs and society including, families and friends and people dealing with food business.
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