Metabolic Status, Obesity, and Helicobacter pylori infection: a cross-sectional study in US adults from NHANES 1999-2000

Abstract

Objective Recent studies on the association between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and obesity have reported conflicting results. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to investigate the association of metabolic status and obesity with H.pylori infection. Methods A cross-sectional study of 1568 participants aged 20–85 years was conducted using the NHANES cycle 1999–2000. We used different anthropometric criteria to evaluate the association between general obesity, abdominal obesity, and H. pylori infection. Results After grouping individuals according to their body mass index and waist circumference, among subjects aged ≤ 50 years, the OR (95% CI) for subjects with a waist-height ratio of ≥ 0.5 in Model 1 was 1.87 (1.35–2.58) compared with the control group. This finding was still statistically significant in Models 2, 3, and 4, with ORs (95% CI) of 1.47 (0.99–2.18), 1.67 (1.16–2.41), and 2.23 (1.24–4.01), respectively. In Model 1, subjects older than 50 years old had an OR (95% CI) for metabolically healthy obesity of 0.09 (0.01–0.69), compared with the control group; after adjustment for major covariates, their ORs (95% CI) were 0.05 (0.00–2.87), 0.04 (0.01–0.35), and 0.04 (0.01–0.35) in Models 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Conclusions Abdominal obesity, as defined by the WHtR, was associated with H. pylori infection in subjects aged ≤ 50 years.