Cebu City – We are back with more tips on the ever-popular Operation Timbang (OPT) Plus tool. Read the previous installment by clicking the link here.

This time, we tackle the uses of the eOPT tool and how it can be maximized in data validation, review, analysis, and presentation. Like the previous installment, we are once again listing several important factors to consider in OPT Plus reporting as follows:

First, the eOPT tool is useful in that it can identify significant discrepancies in the data set encoded, and make sure to review said discrepancies before printing out the report.

Second, even if your barangay is not as big, you can utilize the large barangay tool features by encoding your puroks in separate files and compiling it using the large barangays tool to have a malnutrition ranking of puroks.

Third, print OPT Plus Form 1 or the Barangay Consolidation Sheet and OPT Form 1.A Barangay Summary Report and have it signed before presenting it to the Barangay Nutrition Committee and the City/Municipal Nutrition Committee. At the purok or the regular barangay tool, print also OPT Form 1.B List of Affected/At-risk Preschool 0-59 Months Old to be used as master list of priority nutrition intervention beneficiaries. 

Lastly, utilize the results of the OPT Plus in the identification of priority beneficiaries or puroks as well as in the identification of appropriate interventions to address and prevent further deterioration of the community’s nutritional status.

Since the 1970s the OPT has been a pillar of the country’s nutrition surveillance but there is a need for correct data and proper utilization for it to have an impact on the country’s nutrition situation. // NO III Nasudi G. Soluta, RND