Caraga nutrition council recognizes barangay scholars as community mobilizers
By Jennifer Gaitano
A total of 35 newly-designated Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS) actively participated in the learning session conducted by the local government of Butuan City and the National Nutrition Council (NNC) Caraga, held on January 8-12, 2024, at the Grand Palace Hotel, Butuan City. Photo courtesy of NNC-Caraga.
The National Nutrition Council (NNC) Caraga head and regional nutrition program coordinator, Dr. NiΓ±o Archie Labordo, recognized the significant role of the barangay nutrition scholars (BNS) as mobilizers in the community.
Labordo
emphasized that there have been big improvements in the nutrition status of the
residents because of the dedication and commitment of the BNS in monitoring
their nutrition, particularly that of the children.
“They
also engage the community to action by organizing families into clusters of
20-25 households or into community-based organizations working and helping the
barangay to improve the nutrition situation among the vulnerable,” said
Labordo.
“Basically,
the BNS locates and identifies malnourished children through a community survey
referred to as Operation Timbang Plus. This survey involves weighing and
measuring the length or height of all preschoolers and interviewing mothers to
determine how the child is cared for, the resources available in the family,
and their participation in nutrition and related interventions,” added Labordo.
He shared that to prepare a potential BNS for deployment in a barangay, a BNS should undergo training under the supervision of the District/City Nutrition Program Coordinator or the designated BNS trainer-supervisor. The training combines didactic training with 20 days of practicum.
With
this, the local government unit of Butuan City, through the City
Health-Nutrition Office in coordination with the NNC-Caraga, conducted a
five-day Barangay Nutrition Scholar (BNS) Training Course on January 8-12,
2024, at the Grand Palace Hotel, Butuan City.
“Around
35 newly-designated BNS attended the basic course to gain knowledge, attitudes,
and skills needed for effective performance of the tasks of identifying the
malnourished, monitoring the malnourished, and referring them to appropriate
service providers,” said Labordo.
Labordo further explained that the barangay nutrition scholar shall be a barangay-based volunteer worker responsible for delivering nutrition services and other related activities, such as community health, backyard food production, environmental sanitation, culture, mental feeding, and family planning, to the barangay.
The participating Barangay Nutrition Scholars in Butuan City underwent the training course and learned different strategies on how they could better perform their duties and responsibilities in their respective barangays. Photo courtesy of NNC-Caraga.
Based on NNC’s data, a total of 49,779 BNS are deployed in 39,942 barangays nationwide. These BNS are under the supervision of over 400 District/City Nutrition Program Coordinators (D/CNPCs).
The
Barangay Nutrition Scholar (BNS) Program is a human resource development
strategy of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition that involves the
recruitment, training, deployment, and supervision of volunteer workers called
the Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS).
Presidential
Decree (PD) No. 1569 (1979) mandated the deployment of one BNS in every
barangay in the country to monitor the nutritional status of children and other
nutritionally at-risk groups and link them with nutrition and nutrition-related
service providers.
PD 1569 also mandated the NNC to administer the program in cooperation with local government units. (JPG, PIA-Caraga, with a report from NNC-Caraga)
