Overview
Children with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis and Crohn's Disease may be at increased risk for low bone mass. Previous research has shown that increasing calcium may improve the bone density of children. However, most of these studies have used calcium pill supplements. Although the pill supplements work well, research on taking pills has shown that over time people stop taking them, usually because they forget or they don't like taking the pills anymore.
In our current project, we believe calcium can be effectively increased through the diet using behavioral intervention techniques and that this will result in better long-term maintenance of calcium intake for children with JRA and Crohn's. The current study is a randomized clinical trial comparing behavioral therapy to nutrition education. The behavior treatment program provides not only nutritional information but behavioral techniques for managing eating behaviors. The control program is similar to care and nutritional information a patient would receive as part of their basic medical treatment.
Both groups participate in a baseline assessment visit and an intervention phase. Following treatment, families are seen every six months for two years to assess the long-term maintenance of treatment on dietary calcium and the effect of calcium intake on bone.
