Abstract:

Background: HIV is a major global public health problem, there are 36.9 million people affected so far. Globally in 2016, an estimated 10 million people died from HIV related causes with 1.8 million people becoming newly infected in 2016 globally. The prevalence of overweight (BMI-25kg/m2 to 29.99kg/m2) and obesity (BMI- greater than 30 kg/m2) is an increasing concern in sub-Saharan Africa. HIV is a disease that was once defined by “wasting” however; studies have reported a high prevalence of obesity among HIV infected patients in both developed and developing countries including Tanzania. Although obesity is the underlying cause of several chronic diseases and imposes an economic burden to HIV patients and to Tanzania as a whole, limited resources are available to address the condition and associated consequences.

Objective: Was to assess the prevalence and factors associated with overweight and obesity among adult HIV patients at Bugando Medical Centre.

Methodology: I conducted a descriptive cross sectional study in Mwanza city at BMC-CTC among adults who provided a written consent for participation. I used a questionnaire to collect data on demographics including the gender, education level, time since HIV diagnosis, I collected clinical data through questionnaire. Data was entered in the computer and analysed using SPSS version 20. Continuous variables was summarized using measures of central tendency with their respective measures of dispersion and categorical variables was summarized using frequency, percentage, bar and pie charts.