Obesity and disease activity in juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Background: children with physical disabilities may have an increased risk for obesity and obesity might be a risk factor for inflammatory arthritis. the aims of this study were: to determine the prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (jia),and to examine the association between obesity and disease activity in this population.findings: a cross-sectional analysis of all patients with jia attending a pediatric rheumatology clinic,between october 2009 and september 2010,was performed. a linear regression model was used to explore the association between obesity and disease activity in patients with jia. a total of 154 subjects were included in the analysis; median age was 10.6 years,61% were female,and 88% were white. obesity was found in 18%,12% were overweight,and 3% were underweight. there was no association between obesity and jadas-27 (juvenile arthritis disease activity score 27),physician's assessment of disease activity,parent's assessment of child's well-being,erythrocyte sedimentation rate,number of active joints,or c-reactive protein (p-value range 0.10 to 0.95).conclusions: although 18% of patients with jia were obese,we did not find an association between obesity and disease activity. as obesity confers an additional health risk in children with arthritis,addressing this co-morbidity should be a health priority in patients with jia. future studies are necessary to further explore potential associations between obesity,development of jia,and disease activity. © 2012 pelajo et al; licensee biomed central ltd.