EC Clinical and Medical Case Reports

Fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols (FODMAP) are thought to cause abdominal pain (AP) in children. No studies have investigated whether the FODMAP content of school lunches could be associated with AP in otherwise healthy children attending school. The primary aim of the study was to assess the relationship between FODMAP load, portion sizes consumed and AP in a sample of schoolchildren. In this prospective school-based study, children received a meal with varying FODMAP loads at lunchtime. Participants completed standardized questionnaires and reported presence and severity of AP on a numeric rating scale (0-10). We found no significant association between the FODMAP load and development of AP (p = 0.2808) or severity of AP (p = 0.1865). Children that reported AP following the meal ate a smaller portion size (73.6%, SD = 0.25) than children who did not report AP (85.4%, SD = 0.20) regardless of FODMAP content. To summarize, AP is highly prevalent in schoolchildren in Argentina. Children did not develop more frequent or severe AP with increasing FODMAP loads.

 Keywords: Children; FODMAP; Abdominal Pain; Gastrointestinal; Irritable Bowel Syndrome; DGBI

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