Nutrition

Background: The built environment affects the health of a community in a multitude of ways. One of those ways is through changing an individual’s exposure to environmental contaminants, such as bacterial pathogens. Another is through the availability of food.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an immune-mediated inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal tract. As of 2015, about 3 million adults in the United States suffer from IBD. Health care costs in IBD patients are about 4 times more than in non-IBD patients.