ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1457195
Prevalence and Risk Factors of Helicobacter pylori Infection in Urban Children Aged 6-13 Years in Fuzhou, China: A Cross-Sectional Study in a High Gastric Cancer Incidence Region
Provisionally accepted
- 1Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Fuzhou, China
- 2Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
- 3Other, Fuzhou, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background: The burden of Helicobacter pylori infection remains a global public health concern, particularly due to its lifelong risk of gastric cancer starting from childhood. Comprehensive data on the prevalence of H. pylori infection and associated risk factors among children are limited. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of H. pylori infection among children from Fuzhou, a high gastric cancer incidence region in southeastern China. Methods: In this 2023 crosssectional study, urban children aged 6-13 years were enrolled via stratified random sampling. Ethical approval was obtained prior to the study. Diagnosis was performed using the ¹ ³ C-urea breath test, and risk factors were assessed through structured questionnaires covering demographics, lifestyle, diet, household conditions, and socioeconomic status. Results: A total of 338 children were included. The overall prevalence of H. pylori infection was 22.2% (95% CI: 0.178-0.266), with age-specific rates increasing from 8.3% (6-7 years) to 34.7% (10-11 years). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified frequent desserts/fried foods consumption as a risk factor (OR=2.02, 95% CI: 1.13-3.63, p=0.018), while higher annual household income was protective (OR=0.567, 95% CI: 0.32-1.00, p=0.048). Conclusions: The age-dependent increase in H. pylori infection suggests cumulative environmental exposure. Modifiable risk factors (dietary habits, household crowding) and protective factors (income, hygiene practices) highlight the need for targeted public health interventions for pediatric populations at high risk.
Keywords: Helicobacter pylori, China, Children, Prevalence, 13C-urea breath test
Received: 02 Jul 2024; Accepted: 02 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ye, Chen, Pan, Wang, Lin, Chen and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hong Ye, Fujian Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Fuzhou, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.