RESUMO
BACKGROUND: HIV infected children are at increased risk of malnutrition which worsens the depressed immune system, leading to poor disease prognosis. AIM: To assess the nutritional status of children between 6-12 years on antiretroviral drugs (ARV) at two health facilities in Accra. METHODS: The study design was cross sectional among children between 6 and 12 years being administered with antiretroviral drugs at two hospitals in Accra. A purposive sample of 100 children was used. Height and weight measurements were taken and used to compute z-scores for stunting, underweight and wasting. Haemoglobin status was obtained from their folders. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain sociodemographic data and a 24-hour dietary intake used to assess nutrient intakes. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 20.0. Nutrient analysis was done using Micro diet version 3.0. Data was summarized using means and percentages. Chi-squared test was used to test for associations and statistical significance set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: The prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting was reported as 28%, 16% and 13% respectively. Girls were more stunted and wasted compared to boys. Mean haemoglobin concentration was 10.12 ± 2.77 g/dl. Mild, moderate and severe anaemia were reported in 14.2%, 41.1% and 12.5% of the children respectively. Apart from carbohydrates, less than 50% of the children were able to meet their requirements for the other nutrients". CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal high level of malnutrition among the children receiving ARV. There is the need for targeted nutrition interventions to improve the nutritional status of the children.
RESUMO
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are listed as one of the main causes of mortality and morbidity by the World Health Organization. The World Heart Federation lists overweight/obesity, blood lipid profile, and blood pressure as some of the modifiable risk factors to developing CVDs. This study sought to determine the prevalence of some of these modifiable risk factors among University of Ghana students. One hundred and twenty students were sampled for the study. Lipid profile parameters such as high-density lipoprotein (HDL), total cholesterol (TC), and total triglycerides (TG) were measured using the Vitros 5-IFS chemistry analyzer (NY, USA). The Friedewald's equation was used to determine low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels. Anthropometric indices such as height and weight were measured following standard protocols. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated in kg/m2 using the height and weight measurements. The students were then categorized into underweight, normal, overweight, and obese according to their BMI. Blood pressure measurements were also taken. The mean age of the students was 30.04 ± 7.99 years. A total of 4.2%, 30%, and 67.5% had TG, TC, and LDL, respectively, above normal recommended ranges. Low HDL levels were observed in 32.5% of the students. About 45% had high systolic blood pressure and 32.5% with high diastolic blood pressure. In all, the risk factors studied contributed to about 95% of the variance in explaining the risk of developing CVDs. The study concludes that the cardiovascular risk factors assessed are prevalent among the students and therefore steps must be taken to address the increase in prevalence.
