Nutritional Advice El Mondo
Objectives:
Malnutrition on the background of HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) infection is a complex medical condition that carries significant morbidity and mortality for affected children, with greater mortality from SAM (Severe Acute Malnutrition) among HIV-positive children than their HIV-negative peers. HIV-induced immune impairment heightened risk of opportunistic infection and can worsen nutritional status of children. HIV infection often leads to nutritional deficiencies through decreased food intake, mal-absorption and increased utilization and excretion of nutrients, which in turn can hasten death. Therefore, this review article has been conducted.
What is the magnitude of underweight, wasting and stunting among HIV positive children in East Africa?
Study design:
This review article included 14 cross-sectional studies and 8 cohort studies with 22,074 patients. The total number of participants in the included studies ranged from 96 to 5,951.
There was no publication bias.
Results and conclusions:
The investigators found pooled prevalence of underweight, wasting and stunting among HIV positive children in East Africa was 41.63% [95% CI = 35.69 to 47.57, I2 = 98.7%, p 0.001], 24.65% [95%CI = 18.34 to 30.95, I2 = 99.2%, p 0.001] and 49.68% [95% CI = 42.59 to 56.77, I2 = 99.0%, p 0.001], respectively.
The investigators found the prevalence of underweight among HIV positive children was 49.67% in Ethiopia followed by 42.00 in Rwanda. It was high among cohort studies [44.87%].
The investigators found based on the year of publication, the prevalence of underweight among HIV positive children was 40.88% from studies conducted from January 2008-December 2014, while it was 43.68% from studies conducted from 2015-2019.
The investigators found prevalence of wasting among HIV positive children was 29.7% in Tanzania followed by 24.94% in Ethiopia.
The investigators found, based on the study design, the prevalence of wasting among HIV positive children was high in cohort studies [31.15%].
The prevalence of stunting among HIV positive children was 51.63% in Ethiopia, followed by 48.21% in Uganda.
The investigators concluded there is a high prevalence of undernutrition among HIV positive children in East Africa. Despite the country level variations of child undernutrition in East Africa, still it is high in all aspects compared to the studies from other parts of Africa. It is recommended that further systematic review and meta-analysis need to be conducted on magnitude of malnutrition among HIV positive children in Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole.
Original title:
Magnitude of underweight, wasting and stunting among HIV positive children in East Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis by Abate BB, Aragie TG and Tesfaw G.
Link:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7498078/
Additional information of El Mondo:
Find more information/studies on malnutrition right here.