An Pediatr (Barc). 2015;83(1):33---39 www.analesdepediatria.org ORIGINAL ARTICLE Nutritional assessment of gluten-free diet. Is gluten-free diet deficient in some nutrient?  J.C. Salazar Quero a,* , B. Espín Jaime a , A. Rodríguez Martínez a , F. Argüelles Martín b , R. García Jiménez c , M. Rubio Murillo a , A. Pizarro Martín a a UGC Pediatría, Unidad de Gastroenterología, Hepatología y Nutrición pediátricas, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, Spain b Unidad de Gastroenterología, Hepatología y Nutrición pediátricas, Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena, Sevilla, Spain c UGC Medicina Nuclear, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, Spain Received 8 May 2014; accepted 28 August 2014 Available online 30 June 2015 KEYWORDS Celiac disease; Nutritional deficit; Dietary survey; Monounsaturated fatty acids; Polyunsaturated fatty acids; Vitamin D Abstract Introduction: The gluten-free diet has traditionally been accepted as a healthy diet, but there are articles advocating that it may have some nutritional deficiencies. The current study assesses whether there was any change in the contribution of calories, essential elements, proportion of fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and fibre in children who were diagnosed with celiac diseases, on comparing the diet with gluten prior to one year after diagnosis with the diet without gluten at the year of diagnosis. The level of clinical or analytical impact that nutritional deficits could have was also assessed. Materials and methods: A prospective, descriptive, observational study was conducted in which information was collected from a dietary survey; anthropometric and analytical data were collected at pre-diagnosis of celiac disease and following a gluten diet and one year after celiac disease diagnosis, under gluten-free diet. Results: A total of 37 patients meet the study criteria. A decrease in the intake of saturated fatty acids was found, with an increase of monounsaturated fatty acids and an increase in the intake of phosphorus in the diet without gluten. A deficient intake of vitamin D was found in both diets. Clinically, at year of gluten-free diet there was an improvement in weight and size. Analytically, there was an improvement in haemoglobin, ferritin, vitamin D, and parathyroid hormone in plasma. Conclusion: The gluten-free diet has minimal deficiencies, similar to those present in the diet with gluten, with an improvement in the lipid profile by increasing the proportion of monoun- saturated fatty acids to the detriment of saturated fatty acids. © 2014 Asociación Espa˜ nola de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.  Please cite this article as: Salazar Quero JC, Espín Jaime B, Rodríguez Martínez A, Argüelles Martín F, García Jiménez R, Rubio Murillo M, et al. Valoración nutricional de la dieta sin gluten. ¿Es la dieta sin gluten deficitaria en algún nutriente? An Pediatr (Barc). 2015;83:33---39. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: josesolrac@hotmail.com (J.C. Salazar Quero). 2341-2879/© 2014 Asociación Espa˜ nola de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.