Background: Gastrointestinal motility may correlate with an unusual nutritional status, such as obesity. The orocecal transit time (OCTT) is one parameter of GI motility.
Objective: The primary objective of the present study was to compare OCTT in obese and non-obese children; secondary objectives were to assess the correlation between OCTT and body mass index (BMI) or appetite score.
Material and Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 44 children. Twenty-one obese and 18 non-obese children were included in the final analysis. Demographic data and anthropometric parameters were collected. The breath hydrogen test (BHT) using lactulose was performed to determine OCTT. Appetite score using visual analog scale was measured at the beginning and end of the present study. The difference between these scores was attributed as an increase of appetite. Student t-test and Chi-square test were employed to compare the differences between groups. Pearson’s correlation was used to measure the correlation between parameters.
Results: Mean OCTT in obese children was significantly faster than in non-obese children (70.0 versus 81.1 min, respectively; p-value = 0.005). The increases of appetite score during study were not significantly different between obese and non-obese children (4.3 vs. 2.9; p-value = 0.19). OCTT was significantly associated with BMI in the inverse manner (r = -0.51; p-value = 0.001), but was not significantly correlated with the appetite score (r = -0.24; p-value = 0.15).
Conclusion: OCTT in obese children was faster than in non-obese children. OCTT was moderately inversely correlated with the BMI, and had a trend to negative correlation with the appetite score, though without reaching a significant value.

Keywords: Breath test, Gastrointestinal transit, Hydrogen, Obesity, Lactulose