diet

My son is HIV positive diognised 7 months back during hospitalisation.pls advise the best diet and any extra nutritional food to be given to him.He is otherwise active and ok.

[Renee Radenberg]

His weight is on the 10th percentile for his age. For his age, he needs daily approximately 2200-2500 calories a day as recommended the following; Fruits = 2 cups; Vegetables 3 cups; Grains (cereals, breads) = 8oz equivalents; Meat & beans = 6.5oz equivalents; Dairy products (milk, yogurt) = 3 cups; Oils = 7 tsp; Additional calories to be used discretionary = 365. This food needs to be divided up between 3 meals and snacks between meals daily. The main objective is to stay healthy. You can try a Heart Healthy diet which helps to stay healthy overall, however, he may not accept it due to his age. A Heart Healthy diet means a moderate fat diet to lower the fat content of your foods and increase ‘good’ fats to benefit your body. Moderate fat diet means = use polyunsaturated (omega 3, corn oil, nuts, etc) fats and monounsaturated (olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, etc) fats, no saturated fats (high fat snack foods, butter, fat spreads) and no trans fats. Eat low fat meats (chicken, fish, loin of pork) or non-meat sources (soy products, nuts), low fat vegetarian combinations (rice & beans, pasta & beans, low fat cheese & pasta), low fat dairy and substitute dairy products (skim milk, 1% milk, low fat yogurt/cheeses, low fat soy milk/soy yogurt), use plant oils, non trans-fat margarines, and eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. Eat daily high fiber breads and cereals (oatmeal). Suggest a daily children’s multi-vitamin, too. Thank you for your question.