Nutritional status and HIV in rural South African children

BMC Pediatrics

Research Article

David B Dunger¹  Shane A Norris²  John M Pettifor²  Xavier F Gómez-Olivé³  Elizabeth W Kimani-Murage⁴  Stephen M Tollman⁵  Kathleen Kahn⁵  Kerstin Klipstein-Grobusch⁶ 

[1] Department of Paediatrics, University of Cambridge, UK;MRC Mineral Metabolism Research Unit, Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa;MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa;MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa;African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC), Nairobi, Kenya;MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa;Umeå Centre for Global Health Research, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden;INDEPTH Network, Accra, Ghana;School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa;

关键词: Food Insecurity;    Household Head;    Child Malnutrition;    Nutritional Outcome;    Food Security Status;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2431-11-23

 received in 2009-12-11, accepted in 2011-03-25,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAchieving the Millennium Development Goals that aim to reduce malnutrition and child mortality depends in part on the ability of governments/policymakers to address nutritional status of children in general and those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS in particular. This study describes HIV prevalence in children, patterns of malnutrition by HIV status and determinants of nutritional status.MethodsThe study involved 671 children aged 12-59 months living in the Agincourt sub-district, rural South Africa in 2007. Anthropometric measurements were taken and HIV testing with disclosure was done using two rapid tests. Z-scores were generated using WHO 2006 standards as indicators of nutritional status. Linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted to establish the determinants of child nutritonal status.ResultsPrevalence of malnutrition, particularly stunting (18%), was high in the overall sample of children. HIV prevalence in this age group was 4.4% (95% CI: 2.79 to 5.97). HIV positive children had significantly poorer nutritional outcomes than their HIV negative counterparts. Besides HIV status, other significant determinants of nutritional outcomes included age of the child, birth weight, maternal age, age of household head, and area of residence.ConclusionsThis study documents poor nutritional status among children aged 12-59 months in rural South Africa. HIV is an independent modifiable risk factor for poor nutritional outcomes and makes a significant contribution to nutritional outcomes at the individual level. Early paediatric HIV testing of exposed or at risk children, followed by appropriate health care for infected children, may improve their nutritional status and survival.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Kimani-Murage et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011