Weight Loss

• Children infected with HIV will generally have a hard time gaining weight or keeping weight on. This is due in large part to the frequent illness, nausea and vomiting that may afflict the child.
  
  

Abnormal Growth

• As such a large portion of the body's energy is used fighting infections that result from the child's HIV infection, there is often little left for the normal growth and development other children experience. This can result in stunted growth or generally slow development.
  
  

Difficulty Walking

• Due to the abnormal growth patterns that are often present in HIV-positive children, an HIV positive child may have difficulty walking. This difficulty can be increased by the fatigue and muscle weakness that often goes hand-in-hand with the disease.
  
  

Slowed Mental Development

• Children who are HIV-positive tend to be a little slower with mental tasks and may even have difficulty talking or coordinating some physical tasks. This is often due to a brain disorder called HIV encephalopathy.
  
  

Opportunistic Infections

• Children, like adults, run the risk of developing opportunistic infections if they are living with HIV. Some are more common in children, such as oral thrush, pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, or PCP, and a lung disease rarely seen in adults called lymphocytic interstitial pneumonitis, or LIP.