Introduction The HIV‐infected population is growing due to the increased accessibility of antiretroviral therapy (ART) that extends the lifespan of people living with HIV (PLHIV). We aimed to assess whether national HIV prevalence and ART use are associated with an increased prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors. Methods Using country‐level data, we analysed the effect of HIV prevalence and use of ART on cardiovascular risk factors in 44 countries in sub‐Saharan Africa between 2000 and 2016. We used fixed‐effects estimation to quantify the effect of HIV and ART on the prevalence of diabetes, mean body mass index, the prevalence of overweight, obesity and hypertension, and mean systolic blood pressure. The models were adjusted for calendar time, the age structure of the population, income and education. Results Diabetes prevalence among PLHIV was 5.8 percentage points higher (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.8 pp to 9.8 pp) compared to individuals without HIV. People receiving ART had a 4.6 percentage point higher prevalence (95% CI 2.6 pp to 6.6 pp). The prevalence of obesity was increased by 14.7 percentage points (95% CI 2.5 pp to 26.9 pp) for PLHIV. Receiving ART was associated with an increased obesity prevalence by 14.0 percentage points (95% CI 4.8 pp to 23.2 pp), whereas it had no significant association with the prevalence of overweight. The population aged 40 to 59 had a significantly higher prevalence of diabetes, overweight and obesity. HIV prevalence and ART use had no significant association with the prevalence of hypertension. Conclusions An ageing HIV‐infected population on ART is associated with a significant increase in the prevalence of diabetes and obesity in sub‐Saharan Africa. The increasing prevalence of these cardiovascular risk factors emphasizes the need for comprehensive healthcare programmes that screen and treat both HIV and non‐communicable diseases to decrease the associated morbidity and mortality rates.

Apart from high levels of energy, proteins, micro-and macronutrients, milk contains calcium and the insulin-like growth factor-1 that are of major relevance for children's development and growth. Using Demographic and Health Survey data between 1990 and 2017 with information on milk consumption and anthropometric measurements from all low-and middle-income countries available, we investigate whether milk consumption in childhood is associated with stunting, wasting, and underweight. We specify logistic regression models and adjust for a range of covariates and fixed effects on the primary sampling unit level. We analyze heterogeneity in the association by wealth quintiles and age groups and present country-specific estimates. The final samples for wasting, underweight and stunting include 668.463, 693.376, and 673.177 observations of children aged 6 to 59 months, respectively. Our results suggest that milk consumption is associated with a reduced probability of being underweight of 1.4 percentage points (95% confidence interval −0.02, −0.01) and a reduced probability of being stunted of 1.9 percentage points (95% confidence interval −0.02, −0.01). The association for wasting is not robust. the association is stronger for children from wealthier households, which might indicate that milk consumption is a proxy for better overall nutrition or socioeconomic status. Milk consumption in childhood has long been assumed to be beneficial for growth, resulting in the "milk hypothesis" suggested by Bogin 1. While children are ideally exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life, consumption of nonhuman milk after the age of six months may stimulate growth in the following years 2-4. This association may be due to the nutritious content of milk. Apart from high levels of energy, proteins and microand macronutrients, milk contains calcium and the insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) that are of major relevance for children's development and growth 3,5. In one of the first studies on milk consumption and growth in 1928, Boyd Orr estimated an increase of 20% in height and weight for Scottish children aged 5 to 14 years who consumed milk in addition to their normal diet for seven months in comparison to children who did not 6. For low-and middle-income countries, few studies focusing on milk consumption and growth are available. Early studies from 1970 and 1977 found significant increases in weight and height for children consuming milk compared to a control group in a school milk intervention in New Guinea 7,8. More recent evidence comes from a number of RCTs in Kenya and Vietnam 9,10 and cross-sectional studies in Cambodia and Uganda 11,12. Recent studies that look at livestock ownership in Bangladesh and Kenya also assess the association between milk consumption and child growth 13,14. Although results in general point towards a positive effect of milk consumption on child growth, evidence remains mixed when looking at different indicators. For example, while Grillenberger et al. found significant changes for th...

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