The only presenting clinical feature of diagnosing celiac disease (CD) late may be short stature. At the start of treatment with a gluten-free diet (GFD), celiac children show an accelerated growth rate. The real duration of catch-up growth and influence of diet on the final stature has not yet been defined. In order to evaluate the effect of a GFD on growth parameters, 24 children diagnosed late with CD were studied at our center. During the period of diagnosis, weight, height standard deviation score (HSDS), weight and height velocities (WV and HV), bone age (BA), and pubertal stage were recorded. Predicted height (PH) according to the Tanner method, parental height, and target height (TH) were also evaluated at diagnosis. All patients initially presented because of short stature or retarded growth (100% of patients with height