With almost 15,000 shares and more than 6,000 reactions on their vlogs, nine (9) Barangay Nutrition Action Officers in Metro Manila caught the attention of netizens with their #ADayInALife of A BNAO Vlog entries in a contest conducted by the National Nutrition Council-NCR in line with the 2021 Nutrition Month celebration.

Through their vlogs or video blogs, the BNAOs provided the netizens a glimpse of their typical workday as they perform their tasks in the implementation of their barangay nutrition program with focus on the first 1000 days of the child.   The first 1000 days of the child starts from conception until the child’s second birthday.  Critical nutrition interventions or services must be provided to pregnant mothers and children in their first two years of life to prevent all forms of malnutrition, particularly stunting or stunted growth of children due to long-standing nutritional inadequacy and frequent illnesses.  

The BNAOs are the focal persons for nutrition in the barangay and are responsible for the coordination of the implementation of nutrition programs and projects indicated in the barangay nutrition action plan or BNAP.  The BNAOs assist the barangay chairperson who heads the Barangay Nutrition Committee (BNC) to ensure the BNC’s functionality.  They initiate the conduct of meetings, lead the formulation of the BNAP, and ensure that the BNAP is integrated in the local development plans and budgets.  They also coordinate and monitor the implementation of nutrition programs and provide administrative supervision to the Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS).

The BNAOs showed their support to the celebration of the Nutrition Month by participating in the NNC-NCR’s #ADayInALife of A BNAO Vlog Contest to inform people of their roles in their barangay’s First 1000 Days program. This the first regional Nutrition Month contest participated in by the BNAOs.

The judging of the vlog entries was held on July 26, 2021 with Philippine Information Agency-NCR’s Graphic Designer Ms. Gelaine Gutierrez, National Nutrition Council’s Nutrition Officer II Ms. Queenie Amosco, and Content Creator Mr. Oshean Garonita as the Board of Judges.  The contest winners were determined using the following criteria: relevance to the Nutrition Month theme (40%); clarity and communication of message (25%); creative concept and technical execution (25%); and entertainment quality/audience engagement (10%).   The vlog contest winners will be announced during the Online Regional Nutrition Month Awarding Ceremony on August 6, 2021.

Through the vlogs of the BNAOs, it is hoped that people will be able to better appreciate who they are and how they help pregnant mothers, infants, and young children have good nutrition in the First 1000 Days. May there be more BNAOs who are willing to serve the communities selflessly and become nutrition champions and strong advocates of good nutrition, particularly in the First 1000 Days.

Written by:

Nutrition Officer III Emerenciana L. Francia and
Nutrition Program Coordinator Milagros Elisa V. Federizo