Food supplementation among HIV-infected adults in Sub-Saharan Africa: Impact on treatment adherence and weight gain

This is the author's manuscript of an article published in the Proceedings of the Nutrition Society.Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest proportion of undernourished people in the world, along with the highest number of people living with HIV and AIDS. Thus, as a result of high levels of food insecurity many HIV patients are also undernourished. The synergism between HIV and undernutrition leads to poor treatment adherence and high mortality rates. Undernutrition has a debilitating effect on the immune system due to key nutrient deficiencies and the overproduction of reactive species (oxidative stress), which causes rapid HIV progression and the onset of AIDS. Therapeutic food supplementation used in the treatment of severe acute malnutrition is being applied to HIV palliative care; however, little biochemical data exist to highlight its impact on oxidative stress and immune recovery

Association between dietary diversity, health and nutritional status of older persons in rural Zambia

Objective: The purpose of the study was to assess the association between dietary diversity, health and nutritional status of older persons aged 50 years and above in Milenge district of Luapula province, Zambia. Design: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted. Subjects and setting: The study was conducted among 135 older persons (≥ 50 years) comprising 67 men and 68 women who were randomly selected from three communities in Milenge district, Luapula province. Outcome measures: Anthropometric measurements (weight and height) were used to determine the prevalence of malnutrition among the respondents by calculating the body mass index (BMI). Food consumption was assessed using a non-quantified food frequency questionnaire and dietary diversity scores were used to determine the adequacy of food intake, while a health questionnaire was used to determine self-perceived health status of the respondents. Results: Based on the WHO BMI classification, 30.4% of older persons were underweight, whilst 8.1% were overweight. There was a significant difference in mean BMI between male and female older persons (p < 0.01). More men had severe underweight, whilst more women were found to be overweight and obese. The mean dietary diversity score (DDS) was 3.6 ± 1.1. Dietary assessment showed that 64.4% of the respondents had dietary diversity scores that were below the mean value, while 35.6% had scores above the mean value. The Spearman rho correlation test revealed a positive correlation (r = 0.184, p = 0.028) between BMI categories and dietary diversity scores. The majority (74%) of respondents reported having at least one health condition including high blood pressure (42.6%), coronary heart disease (8.9%), malaria (24.4%), tuberculosis (35.6%) and pneumonia (24.4%), while only 26% perceived themselves to be healthy. Conclusion: The study revealed a high prevalence of undernutrition and low dietary diversity among older persons. A positive association was found between nutritional status and dietary diversity. Although the majority of the respondents reported having health conditions, there was no relationship between nutrition-related health conditions and dietary diversity

Dietary diversity and nutritional status of children aged 6–59 months from rural fishing and non-fishing communities in Zambia

Low-quality complementary foods combined with inappropriate feeding practices put children under the age of five in developing countries at high risk for undernutrition. This study explored dietary diversity, fish consumption patterns and nutritional status of children in Luapula, a rural province in Zambia, where households rely on capture fisheries for their livelihoods. In the cross-sectional study, households with children aged 6–59 months were enrolled in the study. A semi-structured questionnaire was utilised to collect socioeconomic characteristics, dietary intake and anthropometric data. Descriptive statistics and bivariate associations were conducted. 23% of children aged 6–23 months met the minimum dietary diversity. About 49% and 41% of the children were fed on fresh small pelagic fish and large dried fish once to twice a week, respectively. Imbilya (Serranochromis mellandi), Chisense (Poecilothrissa moeruensis), and amatuku (Tilapia sparrmanii) were the most preferred fish species due to their availability and affordability. Only 3.5% of children consumed porridge to which fish powder had been added. There was a significant difference in the height for age z scores of children in the two communities (χ2= 12.404; p = 0.002, d.f = 2). Low dietary diversity was observed across the fishing and non-fishing communities and less than half of the children consumed fish despite proximity of the study sites to one of the largest water bodies in Zambia. Better nutrition outcomes were observed among children in capture fisheries dependent households. Nutrition education in growth monitoring and promotion centres should address the issue of adequacy of diets with regard to frequency and diversity

The effects of germination and roasting on nutraceutical and antioxidant properties of Jirani variety of millet

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of processing variables (germination time, roasting temperature and time) on the phytonutrients and antioxidants activity of millet. The germination time employed in this study ranged from 24 - 72 h, roasting temperature ranged from 112.5 -120.0°C and the roasting time ranged from 15-21 min based on an earlier preliminary study. All samples exhibited antioxidant properties and these properties were dose dependent. Positive correlations were obtained between the antioxidant activity of the samples and the content of the phytochemicals. Both germination and roasting time had an effect on the total antioxidant capacity of the germinated millet product. There was an interactive effect between the germination time and roasting time on the total antioxidant capacity and DPPH scavenging property. A negative interactive effect of germination time and roasting temperature as well as roasting temperature and roasting time on the total antioxidant capacity and DPPH values were observed. The germinated and roasted millet products showed the total antioxidant capacity of 39.30 - 66.01 mg/100g, DPPH value of 68.26 - 79.65 μg/ml and reducing power values of 0.353 - 0.441 μg/ml. The results demonstrated that germinated and roasted millet could be useful as an ingredient for functional food. The optimum conditions for processing millet into a functional food ingredient are germination time of 68.97 h, roasting temperature of 114.79°C and roasting time of 15.00 min, resulting at roasted millet product that possess 54.644 mg/100g of total antioxidant capacity, 72.152 μg/ml of DPPH value and 0.376μg/ml of reducing power values