Writer’s Note: This article was published on the blog of Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte  when I was an intern of Communications and Media Office. Miss Grazielle, my “supervisor” helped me a lot with this.

I cannot grab the photos but the the original post was: PGIN restarts nutrition scholars’ operation, gears to eradicate malnutrition ~

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The Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) has relaunched the Barangay Nutrition Scholar (BNS) evaluation in municipalities in the Province.

A BNS is a trained volunteer community worker who undergoes training on nutrition program management. The training enables them to acquire knowledge, attitudes and skills needed for them to identify and monitor the malnourished and provide nutrition counseling.

During the time of President Ferdinand Marcos, the Presidential Decree 1569 known as the Strengthening Barangay Nutrition Program was incepted. One of its provisions is the assignment of one BNS per barangay.

Willingness and being a bonafide resident of the barangay for at least 4 years are among the requirements needed to qualify as BNS. Having leadership potential is also an advantage.

With Ilocos Norte’s nutrition committee chaired by Governor Imee Marcos herself, the logistics expenses like the transportation of the members of the committee are funded by PGIN.  The committee is now attached to the Provincial Health Office (PHO) and continues to train not only BNS but also midwives and Barangay Health Workers particularly on infant and young child feeding.

Among the various functions of a BNS is to locate and identify malnourished children through a community survey.

They monitor the weight and height of children from 0 to 71 months old through the annual Operation Timbang Plus using the three indicators of nutritional status of preschoolers; weight-for-age, height/length-for-age and weight- for-length/height.

Elma Irapta of Provincial Nutrition Office revealed that when the members of the BNS found out that there are children who are malnourished, the BNS formulate an action plan together with the Barangay Nutrition Committee to address the prevalence of malnutrition in the barangay.

“If there is a sign of malnutrition, the children are immediately referred to the Rural Health Unit for medical check-up,” said Irapta.

18 multi-sectoral agencies merge in the Provincial Nutrition Council to address malnutrition.

Some of these agencies are the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Technical Education and Skills and Development Authority (TESDA), Ilocos Norte- Provincial Health Office (PHO), Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO), Office of the Provincial Agriculture, Budget Office, Philippine Information Agency, Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Current health- related projects by these agencies supported by PGIN include the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) supplemental feeding for Day Care pupils; the Gulayan sa Paaralan project funded and implemented by Department of Agriculture for feeding school children; and the DOH’s Garantisadong Pambata, which involves the deworming and immunization of all preschool children now implemented by various health institutions in the province. The PHO also distribute multivitamins for preschoolers.

“Scholars get minimal cash incentives depending on the availability of funds from the municipal and barangay level,” Irapta said.

“When the BNS does his work well, he may be chosen as an outstanding BNS. It can be in municipality or city, province, region and even in the national level. He will receive cash incentives depending on his score on the National search,” Irapta concluded.

The annual monitoring and evaluation is a project mandated by the National Nutrition Council in cooperation with the local government units. – Neyzielle Ronnicque R. Cadiz, CMO Intern