The Ecological Relationship Between Food Access and Disease Activity in Canadian Children Newly Diagnosed With Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
Authors' conclusion
Obesity was linked to higher disease activity and reduced access to healthy food in chain grocery stores. However, greater access to both healthy and unhealthy food was associated with lower disease activity, possibly reflecting the general benefits of urban living.
Study context
- Population
- Children newly diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) (2017–2021), Canadian Alliance of Pediatric Rheumatology Investigators (CAPRI) Registry, Canada
- Participants
- 641 children
- Exposure
- Neighborhood food accessibility vs disease activity and weight
- Outcome
- Overweight or obese (BMI > 85th percentile) prevalence and access to chain grocery stores
- Follow-up
- Enrollment
Methodological detailsCAPRI Registry, neighborhood-level food accessibility linked by postal code, Spearman rho correlations, Mann-Whitney U test, mixed-effects linear regression
- CAPRI Registry
- Neighborhood-level food accessibility linked by postal code
- Spearman rho correlations
- Mann-Whitney U test
- Mixed-effects linear regression
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
enrollment
- Overweight or obese (BMI > 85th percentile)
- 21.9%
- Overweight or obese lived in areas with less access to chain grocery stores vs underweight or healthy BMI
- P = 0.02
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
The Ecological Relationship Between Food Access and Disease Activity in Canadian Children Newly Diagnosed With Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. J Rheumatol. Published 15 May 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →