Nutrient Intake and Nutritional Status Profile of HIV-Positive Individuals Supported by Deep Griha Integrated Service for HIV/AIDS (Disha) Nutrition Center, Pune, India

Abstract

The intake of sufficient nutrients is important for maintaining the functional compounds of the immune system. The main aim of this study was to assess the nutrient intake and nutritional status profile of HIV positive individuals. Home dietary recall and six days\' food intake from the nutrition center was used to estimate the dietary intake of the study subjects. Anthropometric measurements such as the height and weight of the
subjects were also recorded. The findings revealed that the body mass indexes of 11(33.33%) were within the range of 18.5 to 20 and 14 (42.42%) were between20-25. The estimated intake of antioxidants based on home dietary recall and individual food intake from the nutrition center was 556μg, 2mg, 1mg, and 35μg for β- carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E and Selenium respectively, which are lower than the recommended levels for the specific ages and sex. The intake of ω-3 fatty acid was also below the recommended level for HIV-positive subjects. Dietary habit analysis revealed that 65% of subjects were consuming rice, pulses and legumes, eggs, milk and milk products at least once a day. The intake of fruit and vegetables was less than once per day. It is therefore
recommended that efforts have to be made to maintain daily requirements of nutrients.

Keywords: HIV Positive Subjects; Micronutrients; Nutrient Intake

East African Journal of Sciences Vol. 2 (2) 2008: pp. 176-179