Doctors have been urged to test more children for coeliac disease, amid warnings the condition is often missed because it is a “clinical chameleon”. 

Gastroenterologist Associate Professor Jason Tye-Din says this includes all children with a family history.

“Coeliac disease has strong genetic origins and children with a family history of coeliac disease should be screened even if they are asymptomatic,” said Professor Tye-Din, the head of the coeliac research lab at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne. 

Coeliac Australia on Monday announced a year-long campaign to push up testing and awareness about the illness in children — including those with symptoms that may be suggestive of other common childhood illnesses.