%0 Journal Article
%T Obesity and disease activity in juvenile idiopathic arthritis
%A Christina F Pelajo
%A Jorge M Lopez-Benitez
%A Laurie C Miller
%J Pediatric Rheumatology
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1546-0096-10-3
%X 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).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.Obesity is of epidemic proportions throughout the world [1-3]. The prevalence estimates are even more alarming in developed countries [1]. For example, recent data from the CDC shows that 20,7% of schoolchildren in New York City are obese [4-6].Children with physical disabilities may have an increased risk for obesity and the rates of overweight and obesity in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) have ranged from 5 to 23% [7-10]. On the other hand, it is possible that obesity might be a risk factor for inflammatory arthritis. In adults, the odds of having arthritis, other than osteoarthritis, are 4.3 higher among the obese population [10]. A possible relationship between adipose tissue and inflammatory arthritis is through the role of adipokines. All major adipokines (leptin, adiponectin, visfatin, and resistin) bear im
%K Obesity
%K Overweight
%K Arthritis
%K Juvenile Rheumatoid
%K Rheumatology
%K Child
%K Inflammation
%U http://www.ped-rheum.com/content/10/1/3