When mothers are given multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMN,) they tend to give birth to children who are bigger and heavier. This is contrast to mothers given just iron and folic acid supplementation (IFA). The effect continues into the first three years of the children's lives, according to an article in the February 8 issue of The Lancet, which follows up the Lancet Series on Maternal and Child Undernutrition.

While it is already known that low birthweight affects child morbidity and survival rates in developing countries, it is not always clear what effect interventions to increase birthweight can have on child health. Dr David Osrin, UCL Centre for International Health and Development, Institute of Child Health, London, UK and colleagues from Mother and Infant Research Activities, Kathmandu, Nepal, has previously investigated this issue through a randomized controlled trial in Nepal comparing 1,200 women given either IFA (a control) or MMN, a supplement with the recommended daily value of 15 vitamins and minerals, during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

Saban admits 'problem' on team

All-Southeastern Conference safety Rashad Johnson, a Tide team captain, was the latest in a string of Crimson Tide players who have been arrested, with five of the eight arrests coming on weekend trips to The Strip, a popular student hangout of bars and restaurants just west of Bryant-Denny Stadium on University Boulevard.

Johnson's arrest at The Legacy for disorderly conduct was the fourth involving Tide football players at the local nightclub.

Dog survives avalanche, a week in the rugged backcountry

HELENA, Mont. (AP) Tom Pick saw the frightened look on his dog's face as the snow gave way, but he could only watch as a small avalanche swept the black Labrador retriever down the mountainside. ``I'll probably always see her eyes just looking up at me as she slid down into that thing,'' Pick said in an interview this week. ``You could tell that she was scared.'' That was the start of a weeklong ordeal for 3-year-old Lizzie, who somehow survived a week in the snowy backcountry before being spotted at a lake about 5 miles away. Pick, who had searched the avalanche chute in vain for the dog, said he and his wife are ``both still kind of pinching ourselves, afraid that it's a dream or something. We still don't know exactly what transpired.'' Lizzie was with Pick as he went backcountry skiing Jan.

Thanksgiving pie lessons from pie mama

She has helped me untangle more than a few computer dilemmas, a skill set that should be memorialized in song if there ever was one.

But unlike former pupils, Roxanne would take her tutorial in front of a video camera. We'd maneuver dough and prepare fillings while taping how-to videos for the Web.

Mix and roll. Cut, pinch and flute.

Weeks ahead, I searched out and tested some new recipes from cookbooks and cooking magazines. I came up with three that I adore. First, a pumpkin pie in which the filling is augmented with mascarpone, a luscious Italian cream cheese. The creamy cheese brings a subtle lightness to the texture, and adds a buttery rich flavor. Mascarpone is also added to the whipping cream to make a delectable topping at serving time.

Longtime valentines met as kids

We never really fought as children," said Helen, 68, whose husband is one year her senior. "We were more like best friends. We had a bet that whoever got married first had to pay the other one $50."

They became high school sweethearts, and married in August 1957.

"When we got engaged, we decided to call the bet a tie," she said.

Katherine Huckaby, 76, of Sonora, was 14 when she met her then 21-year-old husband, Roy Huckaby Sr.

"My mother saw him first working for our neighbors," she said, "and later I heard her tell my uncle that if she was going to pick a son-in-law, this was the one."

Little did any of them know then that a few short months later, the couple would marry.

"Two to three weeks after that my girlfriend, Dixie Lee, and I went to the swimming pool in Patterson for a water show, and he was there.

Stop judging – obesity is about more than gluttony

We need to coach kids early on the difference between what is real sustenance, and what is merely edible. It'd help if, as a society, we get outside the 'one normative diet fits all' box and emphasize that different people need to eat for their specific body types and needs. In the Chinese way of thinking, diet and medicine belong on the same continuum and both need to be customized for the individual.

Lastly, when are we going to do something about the crap they serve kids in most schools? Students still come to class full of cheese fries and 500ml of Pepsi because the items were cheap, appealing, and available. Indifference to school menus could prove expensive for all of us. Posted 06/02/08 at 2:02 AM EST | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment .

Police seek link in three Modesto restaurant heists

Stanislaus County Sheriff's investigators are looking for a gunman who held up Perko's Cafe and Grill in the 3500 block of Oakdale Road about 9:30 p.m. Sunday. This is an image of the robbery in progress, taken from the restaurant's surveillance camera. .

Obama gains broader appeal, new poll finds

It will be legally and morally catestrophic for the American society and its claim to democracy beyond its shores, if anything happens to Senator Obama. Protecting him will not be easy but neither will the rest of the world easily accepts US explanations. While non- American observers like me watch recent developments with facination and admire a new found courage found by US voters of all race and creed, we remain prayerful that the tempo sustains. One beautiful political card played by the O-Team and which will remain atop this weeks event, is how the Obama campaign team successfully provoked for the public to see, an easily ruffled Senator Clinton. That was a smart game. One wonders how she will cope with harpless thirdworld leaders on the loose, tamed diplomatic pugilist like Russias Mr.