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Lack of association between Helicobacter pylori infection and childhood overweight/obesity
Author(s) -
Pundak Oryan Y.,
Topf Olivestone Chani,
Hofi Lilach,
Kori Michal
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
helicobacter
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.206
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1523-5378
pISSN - 1083-4389
DOI - 10.1111/hel.12728
Subject(s) - medicine , overweight , helicobacter pylori , obesity , incidence (geometry) , percentile , anthropometry , childhood obesity , gastroenterology , statistics , physics , mathematics , optics
Background The reduction in the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori ) infection in developed countries coincides with the increasing incidence of obesity and might be a contributing factor to the obesity epidemic. We aimed to evaluate the association between H. pylori infection and childhood overweight/ obesity in Israeli children. Material and Methods Patients diagnosed with H. pylori infection by endoscopy, histology, and a positive culture, between January 2013 and August 2018, were identified and compared with H. pylori ‐negative children, of the same age and gender, undergoing endoscopy for the same indications during the same time period. Data collected included the following: age, gender, height, weight, BMI, BMI percentile, and the indication for endoscopy. Patients with missing anthropometric data or having a disease affecting growth were excluded. Results We included 146 H. pylori ‐positive children and 146 age‐ and gender‐matched H. pylori ‐negative patients. 63.7% (186/292) were female, mean age 13.1 ± 3.7. Overweight (BMI between the 85th‐95th percentile) and obesity (BMI > 95th percentile) were present in 56/292 (19.2%). Among the H. pylori ‐positive children, 11.6% were overweight, 7.5% obese, among the H. pylori ‐negative children, 10.3% were overweight, 8.9% obese, demonstrating no differences between the groups. The main indication for endoscopy was abdominal/ epigastric pain in 79.8% (233/292). The percent of children with a BMI ≥ 85% did not differ by gender age or the indication for endoscopy. Conclusions No association between H. pylori infection and childhood overweight/ obesity was demonstrated. This is in contrasts with previous pediatric studies demonstrating an inverse correlation.