Cross-sectional analysis of Helicobacter pylori infection and growth in a cohort of children in the US/Mexico border

Introduction: It has been hypothesized that H. pylori infection retards growth in children, however, literature reveals inconsistent findings. This analysis compares the prevalence of underweight, short stature, and overweight by H. pylori status in the Pasitos Cohort Study. Participants were selected from the border communities of Socorro and San Elizario, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico between 1998 and 2005. A total of 472 children were followed to identify determinants of H. pylori infection.

Methods: Urea breath test was used to test for H. pylori status. Height and weight measurements were obtained at follow-up exams targeted at 6-month intervals.

Results: The proportion of children who were classified as of short stature using the 2000 CDC reference was under 5%, while those considered underweight were less than 10% at selected six-months of age intervals. Using the subset of children who were 66 months of age we found that the risk of underweight was higher among those who ever tested positive for H. pylori infection; however, due to small numbers of children with ‘wasting' this difference was not statistically significant. The prevalence of underweight was 4.8% compared to 1.6% of children who were stunted and ever tested positive. Only 3.1% who tested positive were also stunted (RR=0.8). Similar results were seen in children who tested positive and were also overweight with only a 4.6% indicating no statistical significance (RR=0.4).

Discussion: Future research using a longitudinal approach might help to better describe the relation between H. pylori status and growth in this cohort.