I'm surprised you haven't gotten any responses yet. This I would think a lot of people would know about, more then just me. Oh well, here at least is what I've learned about diet and arthritis from my own research. I myself am 33 years old and a former dancer. I had knee surgery when I was 16 after which I was diagnosed with rheumatoid and then later just regular arthritis in both knees. Now at 33 my knees are just shot and I need new ones. The main thing I've learned about arthritis, is you have to figure out what works best for you. Since your son is so young I would highly suggest focusing on diet and excercise over anti-inflamatories. At least for me I've found diet and excercise works better then perscription anti-inflamatories. I myself really never noticed the anti-inflam I was on never did anything anyway.

First of all I think it helps to understand how arthritis works within the body.

#1. For most types of arthritis Uric acid is one of the main things that gets arthritis going. The higher the uric acid levels in the fluids around the joints gets, the more painful and stif you become. So the objective thru diet and excercise is to keep those levels as low as possible.

Vitamin C and the mineral Zinc are the two main nutients that help prevent joint deteriation. So I would make sure your son is taking a good multi-vitamin mineral suplement on a daily basis. You might also want added vitamin C as well.

Now for diet, as a kid this is probably going to be the hardest part for your son. Things to either moderate or stay away from all together. Remember this is the stuff you're going to have to figure out what works best for your son.

#1 Very little if any red meat seems to be one of the biggest recomendations. More fresh fish and a little chicken now and then seems to be recomended. For myself I have have cut out all red meat and focus on fish and chicken. Lots and lots of fresh fruits and vegetable is an absolute must. That one might take some w

My son also has arthritis he is 12 years old and first got it at 10yrs. I know what you are going through I hated him being on all those meds that do not cure anything infact they cause all sorts of other problems so beware. I have just found a good Doctor that is also a Naturapath that did a lot of allergy tests on him and found that he is allergic to wheat, yeast, gluten, pork and other things. He has shown me how to test him so I do this before he puts anything in his mouth he can eat tomatoes and lots of things that others have to avoid, So whats good for one may be bad for another. So my suggestion to you is get him tested because if he does have allergies they will aggravate his arthritis even more I'm here in Australia so I don't know what you would call these type of Doctors but if you can get help please take my advice and get him tested. My son is so much better he feels and looks better as he's had a very bad two years I just wish I had done this sooner, it takes some sorting out as far as the food goes but its worth every bit of effort to see his off thoses dreaded meds and no more stiffness and the pain is slowly going.
SO THE BEST OF LUCK TO YOU AND YOUR SON AND IF I CAN HELP IN ANYWAY PLS E MAIL.
GOOD HEALTH
DI