Parenting

Are Gluten-Free Foods Healthy for Children?

The gluten-free label is not always an indicator of nutritional value

So if these are products are not that healthy, then why do consumers buy them anyway? Well, some consumers are being duped. The gluten-free label is a marketing ploy for food companies, and it does not always indicate if there is any nutritional value in that particular product.

Dr. Green further said that if you go on a gluten-free diet, you miss out on additives of iron and folic acid. While this isn't a huge problem, it's still a challenge.

Gluten-free products are made from corn or potato starches, and rice. Foods made from corn, rice or potato starches are less nutritious than processed products that contain wheat. Marion Groetch, a nutrition and food allergy expert at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said that products advertised as gluten-free are generally low in fibers and other nutrients, and they have much more sugar than their “regular” counterparts.

Elliott further warned parents in her findings in the Journal of the America Academy of Pediatrics, “[the] health halo often attributed to the gluten-free label is not warranted.”