Nutritional status of HIV/AIDS patients receiving food supplementation and antiretroviral therapy in food insecure enviroments in Chisamba and Kapiri Mposhi districts, Zambia.
Date
2024
Authors
Mwanza, Estella
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
The HIV/AIDS pandemic is a challenge to many nations with estimates indicating that by 2022, there were 39 million people in the world living with HIV and in Zambia, the HIV prevalence among adults, 15 years and above, is approximately 11 percent. ART has been known to slow progression of HIV in to AIDS, however food insecurity can negatively affect treatment adherence and nutrition status in people living with HIV/AIDS, hence the need to incorporate food supplements in treatment of HIV patients from food insecure households or communities. However, there is scarcity of empirical evidence on the nutrition status of HIV/AIDS patients receiving food supplements and ART. Therefore, this cross-sectional study investigated the association between nutritional status and food supplementation in HIV-positive individuals receiving ART. Purposive sampling was used to identify two districts with food supplementation programs to HIV/AIDS patients and simple random sampling was employed to select 296 particepants; 140 from Kapiri Mposhi and 156 from Chisamba district. A semi structured questionnaire which included, FFQ was used to collect data from the participants. Weight and height were collected after food supplementation and compared to baseline data from the medical records. Additionally, household demographics, and frequency of physical activity were assessed. Furthermore, any serious illnesses experienced by the participants during the course of taking food supplements that could have affected their weight during data collection were noted. Results showed that most of the participants, 82.5 percent, were not in formal employment and the majority, 60.9 percent, were females. It was also observed that the prevalence of severely undernourished participants reduced from 31.5 percent before supplementation to 8 percent after supplementation, moderate undernutrion reduced from 61.5 percent before supplementation to 44 percent after supplementation and for participants with normal BMI, the prevalence increased from 7 percent before supplementation to 48 percent after supplementation. The improvement in BMI of participants was statistically significant (t = -14.703; p < 0.001). The most consumed foods were cereals (100 percent), vegetables (82.1 percent) and meat products (56 percent). Cooking oil had the least prevalence of consumption (7 percent). It was also learnt that 71.5 percent of the participants were enganged in physical exercises.This study has shown that food supplements impacted positively on the BMI scores of the participants and therefore recommends incorporation of food supplements into HIV care to ensure better treatment outcomes.
Description
Thesis of Master of Science Degree in Human Nutrition.