TUGUEGARAO CITY,CAGAYAN--------- The National Nutrition Council (NNC) Region 02 conducted the first batch of virtual orientation on the new Electronic Operation Timbang (e-OPT) Plus tools last 08 April 2021 via Google meet. A total of 148 Nutrition Action Officers (NAOs), District/City Nutrition Program Coordinators (D/CNPCs), Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNSs) and Nutritionist-Dietitians of Department of Health (DOH) were present during the first batch of the orientation.
The activity intends to orient all the nutrition workers in Region 02 on the updated e-OPT Plus tools. To have a unified recording and consolidation of data during emergencies, NNC with the assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations developed the eOPT Plus tool for Acute Malnutrition in addition to the regular tool.
The inclusion of DOH 2021 projected population is also a major update in the e OPT tool that will facilitate the determination of the estimated number of 0-5 years old children.
Ms. Maria Gisela Lonzaga, Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator, welcomed the participants. She acknowledged the efforts of nutrition workers for the continuous delivery of health and nutrition services amid COVID-19 pandemic. She expressed optimism that with the new E OPT Plus tools, a more accurate and realistic data will be available for nutrition planning. She also encouraged the health and nutrition workers to coverage all pre-school children to get the real nutrition situation of the LGU.
NO III Edzell Arcinue gave a brief overview of Operation Timbang Plus Minimum Health Standards and NO II Frances Vea Valdez demonstrated and explained how to properly measure the mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) using the MUAC tape.
NO II John Nestor Ballad facilitated the step-by-step demonstration on how to use the updated eOPT Plus tools. He encouraged the participants to read thoroughly the instruction sheet before using the tools. The barangay customization of the tools was made possible because of the 2021 DOH age-specific projected population, he added.
NO II Ballad highlighted the new key features of the tool such as the auto-fill of the population and auto-labelling of the Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC) in the summary sheet. The updated tool will also count the number of mothers/caregivers of children classified with MAM or SAM and the number of children with incomplete information which will reflect in the summary table.
The nutrition workers expressed thanks to NNC R02 for organizing the activity which gave them clear information on the updates of the eOPT Plus tools.NNC R02 advised municipalities who failed to join the first batch of orientation to join during the second batch orientation for Batanes Province and municipalities. A separate batch for Batanes province and other municipalities will be conducted this month.
Moreover, NNC R02 hopes that the updated eOPT Plus tools will help speed up the recording and reporting of the preschool children’s nutritional status that will determine timely and appropriate nutrition interventions. ###JNLB
