The hypothesis of this study was that those refugee children with Helicobacter pylori are thinner than their non-infected counterparts. This cross-sectional study investigated the height and weight of newly arrived refugee children up to age 19 years, who were screened for H. pylori using a stool antigen test at the Migrant Health Service in Adelaide between August 2010 and October 2013. Of 460 children, 21% were infected with H. pylori. After adjusting for vitamin B12 and iron levels, ethnicity, age and sex, the odds of being thin in the 10- to 19-year-old age group was 4.28-fold higher (95% CI 1.48-12.4) if they were H. pylori positive compared with those who were H. pylori negative. The difference between the two groups is statistically significant (P≤0.01). Screening and treatment for H. pylori in the general population in developed countries is not recommended unless there are symptoms such as dyspepsia or risk of peptic ulcer, duodenal ulcer or gastric cancer. Given the findings of this study, a recommendation could be made that newly arrived refugee children who are thin should be tested for H. pylori. Thinness in children may influence their cognitive ability, school performance, physical endurance and hence their ability to successfully settle into their new country.

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clinical protocol bacterial antigen refugee Australia complication vitamin blood level human Thinness Refugees Peptic Ulcer cyanocobalamin sex difference feces analysis controlled study academic achievement Cross-Sectional Studies duodenum ulcer cross-sectional study migrant ethnic difference Humans Adolescent male female cognition Albendazole Infant Helicobacter infection newborn antigen detection New South Wales isolation and purification Article underweight endurance major clinical study Dyspepsia Helicobacter Infections adult Helicobacter pylori body weight iron blood level helminthiasis age distribution iron retrospective study body height enzyme immunoassay stomach cancer Child