Assessment of nutritional status and care of HIV/AIDS cared in homes: a case study of Ilula Kilolo district
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Date
2005
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Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
Orphans may be al increased risk of becoming malnourished probably due to inadequate
attention or care. This study was conducted to compare the nutritional status and care of
AIDS-orphans and non-orphans aged 0-15 years at Hula Kilolo district in Iringa region
Tanzania. A total of 100 households were visited, 40 households affected and 60 non-
affectcd households. Affected households were puq^osively selected from a list of pilot
Hospice care program of Hula Health Center while non-affectcd households were
randomly selected. AIDS orphans were purposively selected while non-orphans were
randomly selected. A total of 120 children were recruited for the study, 60 AIDS orphans
and (i(> non-orphans. Wcighl-for-huight, Weight-for-age. Height-lbr age and BMI-for-age
were computed from anthropometric measurements. The results of the study indicated that
63.3% of orphans were double orphans and 28.3% and 8.3% were paternal and maternal
orphans respectively. Among orphans caregivers 55% were grandparents most of them
being unemployed and widows. Affected households were more disadvantaged in terms of
food security than non-affectcd and that most of these households had no support from
relatives, the government or other organizations.
There was no difference in key
nutritional indicators and the mean Z-score for children under the age of 10 years were not
statistically different. The difference in the proportion of acute malnourished children
between orphans and non-orphans was not statistically different at 5% level of significance
(P
0.4155). These results suggest that the nutritional status of surviving AIDS-orphans
cared for by members of extended family in homes is not different from that of non-
orphans. However immediate follow up studies arc required after the death of parents so as
to determine the impact of parents loss on children who might not survive the death of their
parents as the proportion of under five deaths among orphans was significant p = 0.001.
Description
Dissertation
Keywords
Nutritional, HIV/AIDS, Care of HIV/AIDS, Cared in homes, Kilolo district