The Institute of Human Nutrition and Food, College of Human Ecology, University of the Philippines Los Baños (IHNF-UPLB) through the UP Los Baños Foundation, Inc. (UPLBFI) headed by the Project Leader Dr. Leila S. Africa, Ph.D. conducted a Field Review for the project commissioned by the National Nutrition Council (NNC) in Zamboanga del Norte (ZaNorte). This is partnership with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) with the support of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). The said project is entitled, “Technical Support to NNC in the Development of Data Quality Audit Protocol for the Operation Timbang Plus (OPT Plus) and Updating of Implementing Guidelines” on September 5 to 8, 2022 at Missio Dei Hotel, Dipolog City. The Pilot Testing of Revised OPT Plus Manual of Operations (MOP) and Data Quality Check (DQC) was participated by NNC9 headed by RNPC Ms. Nimfa D. Ekong together with ZDN DMO II Ms. Rowence F. Zorilla, PDO I Ms. Ayesa Gay Bejerano and PDO I Ms. Kimberly Tanador along with UNICEF Health and Nutrition Liaison Mr. Lemuelle Moninio, Local Nutrition Action Officers, Municipal Health Officers, Nutrition Staff, and NDDPs from the 4 KOICA areas in the Province of Zamboanga del Norte particularly the municipalities of Godod, Leon Postigo, Siayan and Sindangan.
Operation Timbang Plus (OPT Plus) is an annual child growth assessment for all 0-59 month-old children in the barangays where length/height, weight, and MUAC measurements are collected to generate data on the nutritional situation of children as inputs to community nutrition assessment, nutrition program planning, and monitoring and evaluation of the local nutrition action plan (LNAP). Due to the problems encountered in the OPT Plus data, the NNC and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) commissioned the Institute of Human Nutrition and Food (INHF), College of Human Ecology (CHE), UPLB through UPLBFI to undertake the abovementioned project. The project aims to improve the data quality and management of OPT Plus by updating its current implementing guidelines and by developing, pre-testing and validating data quality audit tools and protocols for integration in the current Monitoring and Evaluation of Local Level Plan Implementation (MELLPI) Protocol tool. It also aims to ensure a sound basis for the development and assessment of nutrition interventions in the country as well as establish linkage of OPT Plus results to existing nutrition programs and national reporting systems.
The project has undertaken a Field Review in 19 cities and municipalities from three (3) provinces in Regions VIII and IX. The pilot-testing targets participants which include supervisors and program implementers composed of the Provincial Nutrition Action Officer (PNAO), District Nutrition Program Coordinators (DNPC), City/Municipal Nutrition Action Officers (C/MNAO), and Rural Health Midwives (RHM) from the target provinces and municipalities.
The training lasted for four (4) days. The pilot-testing activity includes a series of training sessions composed of lecture-discussion, workshops, and field practicum. The first day include lecture-discussion and demonstration on Section 1: Operation Timbang Plus (OPT Plus) Overview; Section 2: Pre-OPT Plus Protocol; and Section 3: OPT Plus Protocol on Anthropometric Measurement. The second day include the lecture-discussion and demonstration on Section 3: OPT Plus Protocol on Anthropometric Measurement and Section 4: OPT Plus Protocol on Encoding and Report Generation. These topics complete the OPT Plus protocol. An orientation for the Standardization Exercise and Emergency Nutrition Assessment (ENA) was also conducted in preparation for the Standardization Exercise on the third day. The standardization exercise was conducted on the third day of the training at the Barangay Miputak covered court. On the fourth day, a lecture-discussion on Section 5: OPT Plus Protocol on Data Interpretation and Action Planning, Section 6: OPT Plus Protocol on Monitoring and Evaluation, Section 7. Data Quality Check at the Barangay and Municipal Level and Section 8. Supervisor’s Guide: Mentoring and Supportive Supervision was conducted. After undergoing and passing the training sessions and standardization exercises, the trained supervisors are expected to roll-out the same set of activities to their respective barangays on September 12 to 17, 2022.
-DMO II Rowence F. Zorilla, RND
-PDO I Ayesa Bejerano, RND
