{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,27]],"date-time":"2026-05-27T12:05:26Z","timestamp":1779883526462,"version":"3.53.1"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,27]],"date-time":"2026-05-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779840000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objective: Nutrition is critical for people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV); nonetheless, nutritional interventions have not been conducted among PLHIV in the Middle East and North Africa region. This study evaluated the effects of a nutrition-related education intervention on total knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) scores and on the intake of immune-enhancing foods and nutrients among PLHIV. Methods: Sixty-three PLHIV were recruited from an outpatient HIV clinic in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, between August and November 2023 and randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 31) or control group (n = 32). The intervention group participated in an individualized, six-session nutrition education program based on the Health Belief Model, whereas the control group received usual care plus a nutrition education brochure on HIV nutrition and health. Data were collected at baseline and after the five-month intervention period using validated instruments assessing HIV-related nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and practices. A food frequency questionnaire and two non-consecutive 24 h dietary recalls were used to assess the intake of immune-enhancing nutrients. Results: Post-intervention KAP score distributions differed significantly between the control and intervention groups for knowledge, attitude, and practices (p &lt; 0.001, 0.003, and 0.001, respectively). Immune-enhancing vitamin intake did not differ significantly between groups, except vitamin E, which increased in the intervention group (p = 0.042). Conclusions: The intervention improved participants\u2019 nutrition-related KAP scores but did not increase the intake of immune-enhancing nutrients, except for vitamin E. Further studies are warranted to develop interventions that improve the intake of immune-enhancing nutrients.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu18111709","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,27]],"date-time":"2026-05-27T11:03:27Z","timestamp":1779879807000},"page":"1709","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Impact of Nutrition Education on Nutrition Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices, and Immune-Related Nutrient Intake in People Living with HIV: A Randomized Controlled Trial"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3715-0232","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Souheir M.","family":"Alia","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Taoufik L.","family":"Zoubeidi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Analytics in the Digital Era, College of Business and Economics, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates"},{"name":"Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2685-1244","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Habiba I.","family":"Ali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"CD004536","article-title":"Nutritional Interventions for Reducing Morbidity and Mortality in People with HIV","volume":"2013","author":"Grobler","year":"2013","journal-title":"Cochrane Database Syst. Rev."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e001636","DOI":"10.3945\/cdn.117.001636","article-title":"The Nutritional Status of HIV-Infected US Adults","volume":"1","author":"Thuppal","year":"2017","journal-title":"Curr. Dev. Nutr."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gombart, A.F., Pierre, A., and Maggini, S. (2020). A Review of Micronutrients and the Immune System\u2013Working in Harmony to Reduce the Risk of Infection. 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