Tagbilaran City, Bohol – On 16 March 2022, the Bohol Provincial Nutrition Committee (PNC), together with Bohol Provincial Federation of Barangay Nutrition Scholars’ Association staged their 2022 Barangay Nutrition Scholar (BNS) Summit. The annual gathering of frontline nutrition workers themed “BNS kaabag sa pagbangon, saktong nutrisyon ipadayon!” focused on the important roles BNSs play in building back better and upholding the nutritional status in their locality.
The BNS Summit was held at Bohol Wisdom School gymnasium and was attended by the 1,019 BNS. NNC 7’s Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator Dr. Parolita A. Mission gave an inspirational message while Bohol Provincial Governor and PNC Chair Hon. Arthur C. Yap delivered a keynote address.
NPC Dr. Mission in her remarks, reminded the BNSs on the role and responsibilities they play as nutrition frontliners in the barangays especially in this time of the pandemic and their crucial role in ensuring the nutrition in the First 1000 Days of the child’s life. She also praised the BNS for their dedication and crucial role in monitoring the nutritional status in their assigned areas despite the pandemic. She further urged all the participants to apply in their barangays what they learned from the congress.
Hon. Yap in keynote address urged the BNSs to continue their service and give high care to the province’s mothers and youth. Apart from this, Governor Yap acknowledged the BNS for their sincere work, especially when the province of Bohol was recently selected and won the Best Nutrition Program implementer in Central Visayas.
The summit aimed to update the knowledge and skills of the BNSs in Bohol Province on their roles and responsibilities, especially during emergencies and the rehabilitation phase after the recent typhoon Odette that hit the province on 17 December 2021. The recent disaster exacerbates the supply of nutritious food in the province still beginning to recover from the pandemic which affects the nutrition situation of the vulnerable population. The congress also focuses on the role of the BNSs in helping scale up the nutrition interventions in their barangays in the next normal. They are vital to the achievement of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition 2017-2022 goals.
The BNSs are the nutrition workers mandated to coordinate and assist in the delivery of nutrition and nutrition-related services to the barangay, care for the malnourished and the nutritionally vulnerable children, assist in mobilizing the community, and linkage building within the municipality, province, both government, and non-government units. Their target population is the children ages 0-5 years old, pregnant and lactating women, families with 0-5 years old children, and those with pregnant and lactating women. ND II James Aaron S. Perez, RND
