OBJECTIVE: To verify the presence of body and metabolic alterations as well as body satisfaction in children and teenagers undergoing antiretroviral therapy. METHODS: This cross-sectional study enrolled 38 HIV infected young individuals (aged six to 18 years old) treated from December 2009 to May 2010). The body satisfaction was assessed by the silhouette rating scale with 11 figures. The nutritional status was assessed by weight, height, circumferences and skinfolds. The presence of lipodystrophy characteristics was determined by the physical exam, and lipid profile and glycemia were requested during consultation. The statistical analysis used t-test and chi-square test, being significant p<0.05. RESULTS: Most of the 38 patients were eutrophic with length adequate for age; 26% of them presented overweight/obesity. The total cholesterol was within the normal range in 29% of the sample. The most expressive changes were cheek and abdominal lipohypertrophy. The body dissatisfaction prevalence was 84%. Children and teenagers had similar dissatisfaction levels; however, those dissatisfied by an excessive body weight had higher mean body mass index and tricipital skinfold thickness than the satisfied ones. The dissatisfaction was not associated with the presence of lipodystrophy. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of body dissatisfaction in these patients was not associated with lipodystrophy and was similar to the reported by healthy individuals. However, the morphological and biochemical alterations need multi-professional attention in order to decrease the risk of new diseases in HIV patients.
nutritional status; highly active antiretroviral therapy; body image; child; adolescent
