Abstract
Background: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a chronic inflammatory arthritis and could be diagnosed among children with arthritis who are less than 16 years old. Objectives: To investigate the feeding factors, such as breastfeeding, in relation to the risk of later development of JIA. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire based study that was conducted at the department of pediatrics, Abha Maternity and Children Hospital, Saudi Arabia. The study included all the patients that are diagnosed of JIA in Abha Maternity and Children Hospital from 12 June 2013 to 12 December 2017. Results: Breastfeeding or early feeding showed a significant association with the risk of JIA. The majority of mothers didn't fry breastfeeding even after 24 hours. The majority of subjects planned to start giving their children baby formula (43.2%) before 6 weeks of age and 25.7% would start it between 4-6 months. Conclusion: other large sample size studies should be conducted to assess the actual effect of breastfeeding on the risk of JIA among children. Also, mothers should be encouraged to breastfeed their babies, especially during the first 4 months.