Cebu Provincial Nutrition Council Distributes Height Boards

“Daghan kaayong salamat! Naa na gyud mi’y height board. Di nako manghuwam sa pikas barangay” (Thank you very much! We already have height board. I will no longer borrow from the other barangay)” said BNS Nanay Veneranda of Asturias, Cebu after receiving a height board for her barangay.

The Cebu Provincial Nutrition Council (CPNC) distributed 100 height boards to 100 barangays in eleven selected municipalities in the province on 23-25 January 2017.

The municipalities of Argao, Asturias, Balamban, Catmon, Dumanjug, Ginatilan, Lilo-an, Samboan, San Remegio, Santander, and Sogod were prioritized. This was because there were barangays in these municipalities who do not have height boards or were unserviceable resulting to the delay in the conduct of the annual Operation Timbang Plus (OPT Plus).

OPT Plus is an annual weighing and length/height taking of all children aged 0-71 months in the community to identify and locate families with malnourished preschool children, and determine the overall nutrition situation in the barangay. The activity is conducted by all health and nutrition workers every first quarter of the year.

The purpose of monitoring the growth of a child, which involves measuring the weight and length/height and then comparing to the Child Growth Standard, is to determine whether the child is growing “normally” or has a growth problem or trend that needs to be addressed.

The OPT results would serve as basis in the delivery of appropriate interventions to affected children by the concerned agencies.

The distribution of the height boards was pursued by the CPNC so that the BNS will have an accurate measuring tool for height taking and for them to have timely data that can be used for nutrition planning.