The 2008 Congress Working Group Reports:

An Oppertunity for a Worldwide Consensus to Affect Childrens´s Digestive Health

Following the World Congresses of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition in Boston in 2000 and Paris in 2004, the third World Congress will take place in Iguassu, BR, in 2008 and the World Congress WorkingGroups Report (WGR) will be published for the third time. When first conceived for the Boston congress, the WGRs had a general goal to be “the first global effort to define the current status of the digestive and nutritional health of children around the world and to outline a plan of action for the next five years to address current problems … Following the World Congresses of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition in Boston in 2000 and Paris in 2004, the third World Congress will take place in Iguassu, BR, in 2008 and the World Congress WorkingGroups Report (WGR) will be published for the third time. When first conceived for the Boston congress, the WGRs had a general goal to be “the first global effort to define the current status of the digestive and nutritional health of children around the world and to outline a plan of action for the next five years to address current problems … 

Celiac Disease and Other Immunologically Mediated Disorders of the Gastrointestinal Tract: Working Group Report of the Second World Congress of Pediatric Gastroenterology

The gastrointestinal tract is exposed to a vast array of foreign antigens, such as ingested foods, microorganisms and toxins. It hosts the largest immunologic system in the human body and possesses unique properties. It must defend against pathogens while tolerating food antigens and commensal microorganisms. Mistakes in these dual functions (defense and oral tolerance) may play a role in the pathogenesis of a number of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, such as celiac disease, food allergy and inflammatory bowel diseases....