Auricchio R, Stellato P, Bruzzese D, et al. - Based on data from the multicentre, longitudinal PreventCD study, the authors examined the growth patterns of infants at genetic risk of coeliac disease (CD), compared with those who developed CD by 6 years of age (CD ‘cases’, 113 infants) vs those who did not develop CD by 6 years (no CD ‘controls’, 831 infants). Using a longitudinal protocol, weight and length/height were measured. There was no significant growth failure in either cases nor controls. However, there was a difference between the two groups starting at fourth month of life when the mean z-scores for weight and height were analyzed. CD-risk children's growth never fell below 'clinical standards.' In cases however, the rate of growth was significantly lower than in controls. The data indicate that there are unusual growth pathways in children developing CD long before any clinical or serological signs of the disease appear.