ResearchCurrent researchHIV-infected US youth are at high risk of obesity and poor diet quality: A challenge for improving short- and long-term health outcomes
Section snippets
Study population
The Reaching for Excellence in Adolescent Care and Health study was a prospective cohort study of the progression of HIV infection in adolescents in 15 US clinical sites (14, 15). A standardized data collection protocol was developed through the Adolescent Medicine HIV/AIDS Research Network. Between March 1996 and November 1999, 325 adolescents between 12 and 18 years of age who had acquired HIV infection through sexual activity or intravenous drug use were recruited. In addition, a comparison
Participant characteristics
Compared to HIV-uninfected participants, HIV-infected youth were older (19.4±0.1 vs 20.0±0.1 years, respectively; P<.001), more likely to live on their own, and less likely to have completed or be enrolled in high school or a general equivalency diploma program (Table 1). Almost half (46.2%) of the HIV-infected group was not on antiretroviral therapy. Of those taking antiretroviral therapy, 34.5% were taking a monotherapy or combination therapy without a protease inhibitor; 19.3% were taking a
Discussion
The prevalence of obesity in this study population was twice as high as that reported among US adolescents (1). Researchers have reported that African-American, HIV-infected women were more likely to want a larger body size while white, HIV-infected women wanted to lose weight, independent of stage of illness or history of opportunistic infections (10). While the strong association of obesity with past weight-loss attempts seen in our subjects may argue against intentional weight gain, previous
Conclusions
To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the prevalence of overweight and obesity and diet quality in youth with HIV. Practicing dietetics professionals should consider the following:
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HIV-infected adolescent and young adult patients may have a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity than the general youth population.
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Diet quality is often poor among HIV-infected youth.
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Obese persons with HIV infection may be at even greater risk of developing metabolic abnormalities associated
L. A. Kruzich is dietetic internship practicum coordinator and G. S. Marquis is an associate professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Iowa State University,
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L. A. Kruzich is dietetic internship practicum coordinator and G. S. Marquis is an associate professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Iowa State University,
Ames. C. M. Wilson is a professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
C. B. Stephensen is a research scientist with the US Department of Agricul-ture, Western Human Nutrition Research Center, Department of Nutrition, Davis, CA.