Food insecurity and perceived stress but not HIV infection are independently associated with lower energy intakes among lactating Ghanaian women

Abstract

HIV seropositive women living in low-income communities may have difficulty meeting the increased energy requirements that are associated with both lactation and HIV infection. Data on household food security and maternal socio-demographic characteristics, perceived stress, anthropometry, reported illness, dietary intakes and preferences, and exposure to nutrition education were collected from 70 lactating women (16 seropositive (HP), 27 seronegative (HN), and 27 who refused to be tested and had unknown HIV status (HU)). Diet was assessed with three 24-hr recalls (one market day, one weekend day, and one non-market weekday). Data were collected at 8.4 (SD=4.7) months postpartum. Most women (74.3%) reported being in good health at the time of study.

Household food insecurity, nutritional status and morbidity in Brazilian children

“…Specifically, children living in food-insecure households are more susceptible to diarrhoea, respiratory infection and chronic diseases (9,23,42,43) . Child nutritional status has a close association with the occurrence of morbidities (4) , as well as with income conditions and household characteristics such as location in the rural area and quality of sanitation (44) . These factors were also closely associated with diarrhoea in previous studies (44) .…”

“…In Brazil, only 62·5 % of households are considered food secure and 4·8 % are severely food insecure, a percentage that reaches 5·8 % in households with minors under the age of 18 years (3) . HFI is known to be associated with insufficient or inadequate food intake (4) and this low intake of healthy foods and micronutrients is associated with worse health status (5) , both in developed and developing countries. Children are negatively affected by HFI (6,7) as it has been associated with a higher prevalence of hospitalization, respiratory infection, fever, diarrhoea, and nutritional deficiencies such as Fe deficiency and other forms of malnutrition compared with children living in food-secure households (8)(9)(10) .…”

Household Food Insecurity, Maternal Nutritional Status, and Infant Feeding Practices Among HIV-infected Ugandan Women Receiving Combination Antiretroviral Therapy

“…In the few available studies from low-resource settings, HHFI has been associated with maternal underweight [11], reduced maternal food intake among HIV-infected and uninfected lactating women [12] and increased risk of poor maternal anthropometric measures among HIV-infected and uninfected women with young children [13]. HHFI has also been associated with stress, anxiety, and depression during pregnancy [14, 15] and among child caretakers [4, 16-19].…”

Changes in Food Insecurity, Nutritional Status, and Physical Health Status After Antiretroviral Therapy Initiation in Rural Uganda

“…1-3 The food insecurity and HIV/AIDS epidemics are intertwined in a vicious cycle, with each exacerbating vulnerability to and intensifying the severity of the other condition. 4, 5 Food insecurity increases vulnerability to HIV infection by driving risky sexual behaviors, contributing to practices that increase mother-to-child transmission, and contributing to general under-nutrition and micronutrient deficiencies that impair mucosal integrity and host defenses.…”