Wickramasinghe N, Thuraisingham A, Jayalath A, Samarasekera DN, Yazaki E, Jayawardena R, Devanarayana NM. Dietary and nutritional correlates of gastroesophageal reflux disease symptoms: A comprehensive island-wide study in Sri Lanka. World J Gastrointest Surg 2026; 18(3): 113687 [DOI: 10.4240/wjgs.v18.i3.113687]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Niranga Manjuri Devanarayana, Professor, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Thalagolla Road, Ragama 11010, Western Province, Sri Lanka. niranga@kln.ac.lk
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Observational Study
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Mar 27, 2026 (publication date) through Mar 30, 2026
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Journal Information of This Article
Publication Name
World Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery
ISSN
1948-9366
Publisher of This Article
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Wickramasinghe N, Thuraisingham A, Jayalath A, Samarasekera DN, Yazaki E, Jayawardena R, Devanarayana NM. Dietary and nutritional correlates of gastroesophageal reflux disease symptoms: A comprehensive island-wide study in Sri Lanka. World J Gastrointest Surg 2026; 18(3): 113687 [DOI: 10.4240/wjgs.v18.i3.113687]
Nilanka Wickramasinghe, Ranil Jayawardena, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo 00800, Western Province, Sri Lanka
Ahthavann Thuraisingham, Achini Jayalath, Ministry of Health, Colombo 00800, Western Province, Sri Lanka
Dharmabandu Nandadeva Samarasekera, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo 00800, Western Province, Sri Lanka
Etsuro Yazaki, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Wingate Institute of Neurogastroenterology, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1A 7BE, United Kingdom
Niranga Manjuri Devanarayana, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Ragama 11010, Western Province, Sri Lanka
Author contributions: Wickramasinghe N and Devanarayana NM wrote the main manuscript text and prepared tables; Wickramasinghe N, Thuraisingham A, and Jayalath A performed data collection; Jayawardena R supported the calculation of dietary and nutritional parameters; Samarasekera DN and Yazaki E critically reviewed and revised the manuscript.
Supported by the University Grants Commission, No. UGC/VC/DRIC/PG2019(1)/CMB/01; and the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, No. AP/3/2/2020/SG/11.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Review Committee, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka (approval No. EC-19-091).
Informed consent statement: All study participants provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the first author at nilanka@physiol.cmb.ac.lk.
Corresponding author: Niranga Manjuri Devanarayana, Professor, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Thalagolla Road, Ragama 11010, Western Province, Sri Lanka. niranga@kln.ac.lk
Received: September 1, 2025 Revised: October 25, 2025 Accepted: January 20, 2026 Published online: March 27, 2026 Processing time: 208 Days and 1.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This nationwide study, the first of its kind in Sri Lanka, comprehensively evaluated dietary and nutritional factors associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms among 1200 adults across all 25 districts. Oily foods, bread, wheat, coffee, and sour or vinegar-based foods, along with dietary habits such as skipping breakfast, consuming midnight snacks, and lying down soon after meals, showed significant associations with GERD symptoms. Interestingly, bread, identified as a novel trigger in this population, had not been reported previously in global literature. Contrary to popular belief, there was no association between GERD and overall caloric intake, nutrient composition, or obesity. These findings emphasize that effective GERD management should extend beyond pharmacological therapy to include culturally specific dietary and lifestyle modifications.
