October 4, 2007

HIV and ‘Waist’ Management

While wasting, or severe weight loss, was once a prime concern for people living with HIV/AIDS throughout the early years of the epidemic, new data indicates that obesity is a rising issue for people living with the virus.

Thanks to improved medications and treatments, AIDS wasting is mostly a thing of the past. But researchers are finding that people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States are, like their HIV-negative neighbors, packing on the pounds due to poor eating habits and a lack of exercise.

One study, conducted by researchers in San Diego and Bethesda, Maryland, found that 63 percent of people living with the virus in the sample group were overweight or obese, while only three percent were underweight. None were suffering from AIDS wasting.