Cebu City – As important as the activity itself, the tools used in the conduct of Operation Timbang (OPT) Plus are also a determining factor for the success of the activity as they are often the source of error if they are not of standard or if not properly used.

The annual conduct of the OPT Plus highlighted by the weighing and height/length taking of all children below five years of age every first quarter of the year is a regular and well-known activity throughout the entire country as it has been practiced for quite a few decades now.

However long, the OPT tradition has been and with the changes that have been added to it in the past few months, the activity and its results remain one of the most important data that local nutrition committees could gather as it proves to not only be a helpful indicator of the effectiveness of nutrition program implementation, it is also a basis for planning priority nutrition interventions at both the individual and community level.

As mentioned above, despite its long tradition, precautions to ensure preparedness for its conduct remain an important step that should not be missed.

When it comes to operations and budgetary needs, local nutrition committees must consider the following:

• Capacity building for the OPT Plus Team
• Procurement and maintenance of weighing scales and length/height measuring tools
• Production of Child Growth Standard (CGS) tables
• Printing/production of growth charts
• Purchasing of computer/laptop with appropriate software
• Printing of OPT forms
• Procurement of other materials such as pens/pencils and clipboards

While tools and materials may have been long available at the barangay level, there is a need for operational issues and concerns to be addressed too which is why local nutrition action plans (LNAPs) and annual investment programs (AIPs) must have budgetary appropriations for such expenses. // NO III Nasudi G. Soluta, RND