Eradication of Helicobacter pylori increases childhood growth and serum acylated ghrelin levels

Table 1 Comparison of demographic background, baseline body parameters, and the changes of growth after one-year follow-up between the Helicobacter pylori-infected and non-infected matched controls of the observation cohort (mean ± SD)

Groups	H. pylori-positive subjects	H. pylori-negative controls	P value
n	18	18
Age (yr)	9.1 ± 1.6	9.4 ± 1.7	0.57
Sex (female:male)	8:10	27:45:00	0.59
Body weight (kg)
At enrollment	29.9 ± 7.0	35.0 ± 10.1	0.02
z score at enrollment	-1.11 ± 0.47	0.35 ± 0.69	0.01
The 1st year	33.2 ± 7.5	39.5 ± 11.3	0.007
z score at the 1st year	-0.17 ± 0.45	0.38 ± 0.67	0.002
Net change	3.3 ± 2.1	4.5 ± 2.4	0.04
Body height (cm)
At enrollment	132.3 ± 11.4	136.8 ± 12.3	0.15
z score at enrollment	-0.17 ± 0.49	0.15 ± 0.73	0.07
The 1st year	138.0 ± 11.4	142.5 ± 12.4	0.15
z score at the 1st year	-0.14 ± 0.48	0.13 ± 0.71	0.1
Net change	5.7 ± 0.9	5.8 ± 1.9	0.81
BMI (kg/m2)
At enrollment	16.8 ± 1.6	18.4 ± 2.8	0.03
z score at enrollment	0.06 ± 0.45	0.44 ± 0.73	0.02
The 1st year	17.2 ± 1.7	19.0 ± 3.0	0.01
z score at the 1st year	0 ± 0.38	0.45 ± 0.75	0.01
Net change	0.35 ± 0.8	0.69 ± 1.0	0.14

BMI: Body mass index; H. Pylori: Helicobacter pylori; Net change: The growth parameters at the 1st year minus that at enrollment.