Overweight Prevalence, Dietary Diversity, Body Size Preference And Physical Activity Among Seropositive Adults Attending Kayole Hospital Nairobi City County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Obesity are on the increase and is a major public health concern globally. Currently, there is a surge in overweight and obesity among the HIV-positive population in Africa. Overweight and obesity are associated with increased rates of chronic diseases globally. However, the identification and understanding of factors associated with overweight and obesity among persons living with HIV (PLHIV) remain uninvestigated in Kenya. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity among seropositive adults and its relationship to dietary diversity, body size preference, and physical activity level?. The study adopted a cross-sectional analytical design conducted among 173 seropositive adults systematically sampled attending Kayole Sub-CountyHospital in Nairobi County. A structured questionnaire was used to capture data on socio-demographic, dietary diversity, body size preference, and physical activity patterns and levels among seropositive adults. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the data, Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression model used to identify the association between overweight and obesity and dietary diversity, body size preference and physical activity. The prevalence of overweight was 24.3% and obesity at 15.6% among seropositive adults However, females had a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity at 48.8% while that of males was 18.8%. The minimum dietary diversity was achieved by 79.7% of the seropositive adults. Among overweight respondents categorized by BMI, about 35.7% and 4.8% preferred overweight and obese body images respectively. Among obese respondents, 70.4% and 7.4% preferred overweight and obese body images respectively.. 52% engaged in high physical activity level, 27.8% in moderate physical activity level and 20.2% engaged in low physical activity level. Multivariate analysis showed being female [Adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=3.65; 95% Confidence level [CI]=1.24-10.0: P=0.019), being in business as an occupation (AOR = 7.87; 95% CI=1.47-41.99: P=0.016), and achieving minimum dietary diversity (AOR = 4.67; 95% CI=1.34-16.34: P=0.016) distorted body perception (AOR = 3.26; 95% CI=1.3-8.22; P=0.012), while being dissatisfied with overweight (AOR = 59.246; 95% CI=10.86-323.07; P