Nutritional assessment of children orphaned from human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), and implementing a food based intervention to improve their nutritional status in Bauchi metropolis, Nigeria
{"title":"Nutritional assessment of children orphaned from human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), and implementing a food based intervention to improve their nutritional status in Bauchi metropolis, Nigeria","authors":"L. C. Ifitezue, M. Sosanya","doi":"10.5897/JAHR2014.0331","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The adverse effects of the human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) pandemic are felt most severely in some of the world’s poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa which has led to an upsurge in the number of orphaned children. This study assessed the nutritional status of 196 children, 0 to 17 years orphaned from HIV/AIDS living in Bauchi metropolis, using anthropometry and food frequency questionnaire. Descriptive statistical tools such as frequencies, percentages, mean, standard deviation and paired samples T-test were computed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0. Their body mass index (BMI)-for-age and height-for-age were computed using WHO AnthroPlus software. Majority 159 (81.4%) of the respondents were above 5 years while 36 (18.6%) were under 5 years. The most frequently consumed cereals were rice 179 (92.3%) and maize 172 (88.7%), while the most frequently consumed tuber, animal protein, fruits and vegetables were yam 171 (88.1%), meat 130 (67%), and fish 129 (66.5%), Orange 147 (75.8%) and garden egg 134 (69.1%) respectively. Twenty-eight (14.4%) and 18 (9.3%) of the children were moderately and severely underweight respectively, while 34 (17.6%) and 5 (2.6%) were moderately and severely stunted respectively. Twenty children were used for the intervention (administering kwash-pap powder for a period of 1 month) and the mean weight gain (0.99±0.43 kg) was significantly different before and after the study (p<0.001). Food based intervention can improve the nutritional status of children orphaned by HIV/AIDs. \n \n \n \n Keywords: HIV/AIDs, Bauchi, malnutrition, kwash-pap, orphans.","PeriodicalId":73590,"journal":{"name":"Journal of AIDS and HIV research (Online)","volume":"7 1","pages":"130-137"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2015-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.5897/JAHR2014.0331","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of AIDS and HIV research (Online)","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5897/JAHR2014.0331","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
The adverse effects of the human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) pandemic are felt most severely in some of the world’s poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa which has led to an upsurge in the number of orphaned children. This study assessed the nutritional status of 196 children, 0 to 17 years orphaned from HIV/AIDS living in Bauchi metropolis, using anthropometry and food frequency questionnaire. Descriptive statistical tools such as frequencies, percentages, mean, standard deviation and paired samples T-test were computed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0. Their body mass index (BMI)-for-age and height-for-age were computed using WHO AnthroPlus software. Majority 159 (81.4%) of the respondents were above 5 years while 36 (18.6%) were under 5 years. The most frequently consumed cereals were rice 179 (92.3%) and maize 172 (88.7%), while the most frequently consumed tuber, animal protein, fruits and vegetables were yam 171 (88.1%), meat 130 (67%), and fish 129 (66.5%), Orange 147 (75.8%) and garden egg 134 (69.1%) respectively. Twenty-eight (14.4%) and 18 (9.3%) of the children were moderately and severely underweight respectively, while 34 (17.6%) and 5 (2.6%) were moderately and severely stunted respectively. Twenty children were used for the intervention (administering kwash-pap powder for a period of 1 month) and the mean weight gain (0.99±0.43 kg) was significantly different before and after the study (p<0.001). Food based intervention can improve the nutritional status of children orphaned by HIV/AIDs.
Keywords: HIV/AIDs, Bauchi, malnutrition, kwash-pap, orphans.