Celiac Spotlight

Camps for Children With Celiac Disease Prove Popular

Demand for Summer Programs Increases Across the Country

At first glance, Camp Celiac has all the elements of a traditional summer camp. A lush forest. A sparkling pond. Rustic cabins. But what makes the week-long getaway extraordinary is what the camp lacks—gluten.

Set in rural Rhode Island, Camp Celiac will celebrate 7 years of operation this coming summer. Growing from a weekend outing for a few dozen children, Camp Celiac is now a full-blown camp serving more than 120 children, including its first overseas camper from Sweden.

“It has exploded into this huge venture,” said Tanis Collard, Camp Celiac‘s director, who founded the modest weekend event 6 years ago to help her daughter find other children facing the same dietary challenges. “I started the camp as a weekend sleep-away camp for children with celiac disease in the hopes that my daughter would meet some kids like her. That weekend about 50 campers came. At the end of that weekend, the kids begged us to do more.”

Gluten-Free Kitchen

Collard said the entirely gluten-free kitchen comes as the biggest shock to new attendees who sometimes have a hard time wrapping their minds around it. “These kids come to camp and say ‘Can we eat this?’ ‘Can we eat that?’ After 24 hours they catch on that they can eat anything they want. It’s really kind of funny.”

Ensuring the camp is free of wheat, barley, and rye—the grains that trigger the immune system reaction that causes the intestinal symptoms of celiac disease—is the simple part, said Collard. The cook at Camp Aldersgate, where the camp is hosted, was willing to learn the ins and outs of gluten-free cooking. Now, the real challenge is entertaining a camp full of children for a week.

A Growing Trend

Camp experiences for children with celiac disease have been around for at least 2 decades. The Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG) has helped gluten-free campers find spots at Seattle-area camps since 1987, and interest is still growing.

In addition to Camp Celiac and the GIG’s efforts at Camp Sealth in Seattle, there are now spots for children with celiac disease at a North Carolina camp that is working with the GIG, a long weekend at Camp Oh-Da-Go-Ta in Wisconsin, and the Great Gluten Escape in Texas.

Unlike Camp Celiac, the camps supported by the GIG serve a broad population of children, with celiac disease campers accounting for approximately 10 percent of the 350 campers at Camp Sealth. The GIG runs a separate kitchen to serve the needs of the campers who cannot tolerate gluten, which allows children with celiac disease to fully participate in camp life.

“You don’t live in a bubble, so we try to teach them to be a part of everyday life,” said Cynthia Kupper, executive director of the GIG. “It gives us an opportunity to educate the campers and the staff.”

Kupper said the education mission appears to be working. Last year, one cabin decided to eat entirely gluten-free to support their gluten-free campmate.

There is little risk of the camps for children with celiac disease disappearing. Kupper said the GIG is looking into supporting campers who have both celiac disease and diabetes—an increasingly common population—and Collard said her 12-year-old daughter has implored her to continue her volunteer efforts. But that lobbying may be unnecessary, Collard said. “You look at these kids‘ faces and you know that you have to do it again.”

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NIH Publication No. 06–4552
May 2006