Dietary Intake Adequacy of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Rural Communities of Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study analysed the dietary intake of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in rural communities of Imo State, Nigeria. A simple random sampling technique was used to sample 114 PLWHA from members of two rural support groups with high prevalence of HIV in Imo State using interview schedule. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlation, and t-test at 0.05. Mean involvement in agriculture was 12.7 and reduced to 7.0 after HIV infection. Extent of involvement in agriculture significantly reduced pre and post HIV infection (t=8.1). Diet diversity score was low among the majority (62.3%) of the PLWHA, with a mean of 4.3±1.6, and diet adjudged severely inadequate. However, change in level of involvement in agriculture had no significant correlation with dietary intake (r=-0.01). The study concluded that diet of PLWHA in Imo State was inadequate, thus there is need for extension to collaborate with the health sector to develop nutritional guideline for PLWHA in rural communities.

Keywords: People Living with HIV/AIDS, Diet diversity, Dietary intake.