Teenager Shares Tips for Parenting a Child with Celiac Disease

When I started my blog in 2011, I met and  connected with many terrific people in the celiac community. One of them, Taylor Miller, is a teenager who advocates for himself and educates others about living gluten-free. A while back, I asked Taylor to share how parents could best support their children with celiac disease. His perspective was and is invaluable to me as a mom of 2 young boys with celiac. I wanted to hear how they may feel as they get into their teenage years and the best ways I could be there for them. Here are some tips Taylor shared (you can read the original unedited post here): Explain what the gluten-free diet means in the simplest way possible. If your kid is new to a gluten-free diet or is just starting out, the last thing you want to do is confuse them about what they can and can't eat. If they are younger, try explaining the simple foods they can't have and how it will make them very sick if they eat it. If they are older in their teens, be very serious about what they have and what they can't eat. Let them know it's not something to mess around with and if they don't want to feel sick all the time, a gluten-free diet is the only way to feel better. Now, the last thing you want to do is explain it in a way where it sounds like it's the end of the world. If you're listing tons of things they can never eat again, they're going to be devastated. Follow it up by talking about all the things they can still eat that you know they love! It wil...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news