Assessing Growth and Development

HIV and Development

HIV infected children are often plagued by development delays. Management of immunological and virological factors as well as adequate height, weight, neurological development, and body composition are important in the overall success of an HIV-positive child. Impaired growth in children affects a child physically as well as mentally and may extend into adulthood.

E-babies

E-babies (exposed babies) refer to our patient population of infants born to HIV-positive mothers. Although not necessarily infected with the virus, these babies are treated with antiretroviral medications in utero for up to six weeks of life (under the PACTG076 guidelines) to minimize the risk of transmission. This protocol has drastically reduced the rate of infection, but our prospective study hypothesizes that the highly-active antiretrovirals can have a negative impact on the patient’s linear growth and BMI.

Gator Circle

Gator Circle is a tool developed to measure visceral adiposity. This is useful for assessing the characteristics associated with lipodystrophy.    

CIA

The Cumulative Indices Assessment (CIA) was developed as a multifactorial tool to detect one’s risk for developing insulin resistance. This method allows the Nutrition Team to assess whether an issue is influenced by an impaired glucose or lipid metabolism, collectively referred to as the GlucIndex and LipidIndex, respectively. This noninvasive tool requires a fasting insulin, lipid, and glucose panel, which is obtained from clinic.

Med Score

The Med Score is a tool used to assess a patient’s medication regimen. When comparing a patient’s prescribed treatment with the minimum recommended dosages for each medication, the resulting ratio can indicate medication load with respect to the individual antiretroviral classes.      

NDSR

Nutrition Data System for Research (NDSR) is a comprehensive dietary analysis program used to determine the exact nutrient composition of our patient’s 24-hour diet recall. The raw nutrient values provided by NDSR are evaluated against each nutrient’s recommended dietary intake.