UCL Institute for Global Health
Nutrition and HIV
Partners
- Lusaka University Teaching Hospital
- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Without intervention about 30% of children born to HIV infected mothers acquire the virus from them. The infection rates are affected by Infant feeding practice and maternal health. While the benefits of exclusive breast feeding for prevention of mother to child transmission are clear, the optimal infant feeding regime for mothers once they can no longer breast feed exclusively is not known.
Various locally produced (industrial and domestic) foods may provide nutrients to those infants who are no longer breastfed. The impact on child health, growth, nutritional status and development is unknown.
What we are doing
In association with colleagues (led by Professor Suzanne Filteau at LSHTM) we have developed new fortified foods for older infants which are being evaluated in community studies of infants of HIV infected mothers in Lusaka, Zambia.
Follow up studies on growth, morbidity, micronutrient status and development are underway.
