News / National
Poor nutrition affects Zimbabwe soldiers
24 Sep 2011 at 08:09hrs | Views
MANY aspiring soldiers from Matabeleland South province could not make it into the Zimbabwe National Army during a recent recruitment exercise after failing to meet the mandatory body mass index due to poor nutrition, a senior army officer has revealed.
ZNA Commander, Lieutenant-General Phillip Valerio Sibanda, said Matabeleland South province had the least number of successful candidates in the recruitment exercise conducted recently.
"This year, we had a reduced number of army recruits from Matabeleland South because most of the candidates who applied for military training did not meet the required body mass index in line with ZNA requirements.
"This is largely because of food shortages affecting several households in the province, hence we saw it fit to partner with seed companies and help alleviate starvation.
"We are also concerned about the unpredictable climate change, which is also another factor that contributed to food shortage," he said.
The body mass index, or Quetelet index, is a proxy for human body fat based on an individual's weight and height.
In simpler terms, body mass index is defined as "the individual's body weight divided by the square of his or her height".
It can be used to indicate if one is overweight, obese, underweight or normal.
He said this on Saturday in Gwanda at a function where the ZNA donated several bags of maize seed and fertiliser to more than 30 traditional leaders in Matabeleland South province.
The handover ceremony coincided with commemorations of the annual Traditional Leaders' Day.
Lt Gen Sibanda said the donation was meant to boost food production in the drought-prone province.
Several parts of the province have been hit by drought resulting in livestock dying and most families running out of food.
Said Lt Gen Sibanda: "As ZNA we noted with great concern that Matabeleland South was the worst affected province in terms of food crisis due to drought coupled with inadequate farming inputs and therefore in an effort to complement Government efforts in addressing this challenge, we decided to partner with local seed companies and distribute bags of see maize and fertiliser to the needy communities."
Lt-Gen Sibanda said efforts were also underway to revive the Isiphala Senkosi/Zunde Ramambo concept, which was aimed at boosting food production in the country.
He also implored chiefs to play a leading role in mobilising their communities in preserving the environment.
"We continue to lose a lot of vegetation through deforestration and we therefore urge chiefs and all traditional leaders to educate their communities on the importance of nature. Drastic measures must be implemented to stop veldfires as they continue to ravage our environment and in the process disrupting the ecosystem, destroying property and in some cases killing people, hence we need more fire guards.
"Those who cause such fires should be heavily fined and we all need to play a watchdog role, particularly when it comes to preserving our environment for future generations and again we urge our people to plant more trees in their respective areas," he said.
ZNA Commander, Lieutenant-General Phillip Valerio Sibanda, said Matabeleland South province had the least number of successful candidates in the recruitment exercise conducted recently.
"This year, we had a reduced number of army recruits from Matabeleland South because most of the candidates who applied for military training did not meet the required body mass index in line with ZNA requirements.
"This is largely because of food shortages affecting several households in the province, hence we saw it fit to partner with seed companies and help alleviate starvation.
"We are also concerned about the unpredictable climate change, which is also another factor that contributed to food shortage," he said.
The body mass index, or Quetelet index, is a proxy for human body fat based on an individual's weight and height.
In simpler terms, body mass index is defined as "the individual's body weight divided by the square of his or her height".
It can be used to indicate if one is overweight, obese, underweight or normal.
The handover ceremony coincided with commemorations of the annual Traditional Leaders' Day.
Lt Gen Sibanda said the donation was meant to boost food production in the drought-prone province.
Several parts of the province have been hit by drought resulting in livestock dying and most families running out of food.
Said Lt Gen Sibanda: "As ZNA we noted with great concern that Matabeleland South was the worst affected province in terms of food crisis due to drought coupled with inadequate farming inputs and therefore in an effort to complement Government efforts in addressing this challenge, we decided to partner with local seed companies and distribute bags of see maize and fertiliser to the needy communities."
Lt-Gen Sibanda said efforts were also underway to revive the Isiphala Senkosi/Zunde Ramambo concept, which was aimed at boosting food production in the country.
He also implored chiefs to play a leading role in mobilising their communities in preserving the environment.
"We continue to lose a lot of vegetation through deforestration and we therefore urge chiefs and all traditional leaders to educate their communities on the importance of nature. Drastic measures must be implemented to stop veldfires as they continue to ravage our environment and in the process disrupting the ecosystem, destroying property and in some cases killing people, hence we need more fire guards.
"Those who cause such fires should be heavily fined and we all need to play a watchdog role, particularly when it comes to preserving our environment for future generations and again we urge our people to plant more trees in their respective areas," he said.
Source - zimpapers
