Helicobacter Pylori Infection in Relation to Anthropometric Indices among Young Population in Iran

Background: Previous researches reported inconclusive findings on the interaction of Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) infection with body indices, although, most of these studies used body mass index (BMI) to assess such an association. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of H.pylori seropositivity with anthropometric indices as well as blood pressure (BP) among a group of young population in Zahedan, a city in south-east of Iran. Methods: A total of 363 undergraduate students participated in this cross-sectional study, in 2014. Serum IgG antibodies against H.pylori were measured and the cut-off level of antibody titers more than or equal to 20 was considered as H.pylori positive. Anthropometric indices and BP were measured using standard protocols. Results: Data analysis indicated that H.pylori seropositivity was equal to 45.7% . H.pylori positive participants had significantly lower mean values of BMI (P = 0.01), waist circumference (WC), and waist to height ratio (WHtR) which was marginally significant (P = 0.05) compared to H.pylori negative participants. No significant differences were found in waist to hip ratio (WHpR), as well as systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) between the two groups. Although, after adjustment for confounding factors, higher values of BMI (OR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.003-3.2) and WHtR (OR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.001-2.71) were positively correlated with higher odds of H.pylori positivity. Conclusions: H.pylori positivity was correlated with higher BMI and WHtR after adjusting for other variables, but no correlation was observed for WC, WHpR, or BP among a group of young undergraduate students in south-east of Iran.