New study reveals thousands of prenatal supplements fail to provide adequate nutrition for pregnant women and babies

A new study from researchers in the Lifecourse Epidemiology of Adiposity (LEAD) Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus shows that 90 percent of pregnant women do not receive adequate nutrients during pregnancy from food alone and must look to supplements to fill that deficit. However, they also discovered that 99 percent of the affordable dietary supplements on the market do not contain appropriate doses of key micronutrients that are urgently needed to make up for the nutritional imbalance.

Kalaba tips govt on mealie meal shortages, high prices

By NATION REPORTER

CITIZENS First (CF) president Harry Kalaba has said the only way to reduce the price of mealie meal and end shortages of the staple food is to increase maize production.

And Mr Kalaba says the only way to increase production of maize in the country is to help small-scale farmers with simple mechanical implements and affordable farm inputs.

He said in a statement Monday besides empowering small-scale farmers with mechanisation and cheap farm inputs government should bring back state farms which should be managed by the Zambia National Service (ZNS).

There is a shortage of mealie meal on the Copperbelt and North-Western Province triggering further increases in the price of the commodity.

In some parts of, the country the price has jumped to between K300 and K500 for a 25-kilogram bag.

About two months ago Mr Kalaba warned that the maize released to the Zambia National Service (ZNS) was not a solution because the grain would run out in two months.

“There was a lot of excitement when the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) released 250,000 metric tonnes of maize to millers. Our friend in the UPND went to town praising themselves that they had solved the problem. But I warned them not to be excited because that was going to last only two months. We are back to the same situation,” he said.

Mr Kalaba said once in government, the CF would encourage citizens to take up farming at household level by making land easily accessible to them, as well as providing cheap inputs and small tractors.

The price of the staple food has risen from K120 in 2021 to an average of between K200 and K500, sparking a public outcry.

Some stakeholders have warned that if not decisively addressed the escalating cost of living could cause instability in the nation.

Missing seven year old found dead

 THE body of a seven-year-old boy of Kapiri-Mposhi who went missing on Friday last week has been found in Mulungushi river. Nathaniel Chanda who is alleged to have drowned was found with mutilated body parts as a result of fish bites. Meanwhile, an 86-year-old woman of Serenje has died after her grass thatched house caught […]

Suspected poacher shot dead

 ONE suspected poacher has been shot dead, while the other one has escaped with gunshot wounds after a shoot out with game scouts at a ranch in Chisamba on a property believed to belong to former Republican president Edgar Lungu. Mike Tembo aged between 44 and 46-years-old of Chibombo district was shot dead in a […]

Cocaine damage routinely misdiagnosed as non-threatening nasal disease, finds study

A new paper in Rheumatology Advances in Practice indicates that granulomatosis with polyangiitis, a nasal disease that causes inflammation of the blood vessels and commonly presents with symptoms in sinuses, throat, lungs, and kidneys, may be commonly misdiagnosed. Researchers believe that many patients identified with the sinus and nasal-limited form of the disease may actually be suffering from nasal damage due to cocaine usage.