Implementation of a nutrition assessment, counseling and support program and its association with body mass index among people living with HIV in Accra, Ghana.

ABSTRACT

In spite of the important role nutrition plays in the management of HIV, access to nutrition services is inadequate, especially in resource limited settings. In addition, nutrition programs for people living with HIV (PLWH) have not been sufficiently evaluated for efficacy and this study was conducted to address this gap. This study aimed to evaluate the implementation of the nutrition assessment, counseling and support (NACS) program in Accra, Ghana, and to assess whether the level of implementation of NACS was associated with the body mass index (BMI) of PLWH. A cross-sectional study was conducted in six HIV clinics (3 NACS designated and 3 non-NACS). Study participants were 152 adult PLWH at least 6 months on antiretroviral therapy and not pregnant or breastfeeding. Using a NACS implementation scale developed for this study ranging from 0 to 8 (a higher score indicating better NACS implementation), median NACS implementation score was not different between NACS-designated, and non-NACS HIV clinics (5 vs 4, p = 0.14). Almost half (47%) of the respondents were overweight or obese. A higher score on the NACS implementation scale was not significantly associated with overweight or obesity (BMI >24.9 kg/m2) after adjusting for other covariates. It was concluded that, there was poor implementation of NACS in the NACS designated HIV clinics surveyed with no nutrition counseling offered nor food support available to those who might need it.