#wellness marigondonians nestlephilippines

[themariaangelicaposts-blog]

“Wellness Campus Program: An Indelible Ink in the Lives of Marigondonians”

       “Health Goal Mo Ay Wellness. Balance What You Eat”, beats from the Wellness song and dance performed as part of the students’ regular exercise routine, which reverberate and groove high among participating Marigondon National High School’s health-oriented students, teachers, parents and other stakeholders who made it to the National Level Competition of the Wellness Campus Best Implementing Schools 2020.

       Educating MNHS students on how to live a healthy life and promoting a lifestyle of wellness among these young people, Department of Education Lapu-Lapu City Division with its continuing joint ingenuity with Nestlé Philippines has been serving its key purpose through an integrated program that is a part of the Nestlé For Healthier Kids initiative, dubbed as Wellness Campus. This program targets not only to escalate awareness, knowledge of nutrition, proper hygiene and environmental protection, but also to encourage students to apply this knowledge in every single day of their waking lives.

       The said program aids through selecting healthier drink and food options and physical activity. Since good health is always the true wealth; so as replacement for unwholesome drinks and calorie-jammed, processed food, MNHS teachers and students habitually prepare detoxifying beverages and low-cost meals with vegetables. Generally, health and wellness lifestyle need not be costly. Furthermore, one of the acmes and the true heart of the program is the school-based strategic efforts which lay a firm framework of good health and encourage the early adoption of healthy lifestyles. It boils down to the various nutrition modules taught in the school.

       As a program, Wellness Campus is driven by the 5 important healthy habits:  Choose nutritious food and varied options, Manage portions, Choose to drink water, Play actively and Enjoy meals together; which are aligned with DEPED health curriculum topics and parents education materials. In addition, the program has encouraged schools to start other initiatives beyond the Wellness Campus curriculum to promote healthy habits among students all year round. So what MNHS did is the strategic administration of the 20 School Best Practices that is categorized into two according to purpose: to increase student's nutrition knowledge and to alleviate student’s nutrition health and concerns. It is done right after the implementation activities such as Body Mass Index (BMI) Monitoring- Baseline Data, Division Launching Wellness Orientation, Distribution of Wellness Waiver to the School, Distribution of Wellness Waiver to the Students, Retrieval of the Wellness Waiver, Discussion of the Wellness Nutrition Modules to the Students, Wellness Dancercise during PE Classes, Wellness Dancercise during Flag Ceremony, and Discussion of the Wellness Nutrition Modules to the Parents.

           MNHS’ 10 best practices to increase student's nutrition knowledge are (1)Wellness: Nourish to Flourish wherein the MAPEH teachers discussed about Nutrition through the aid of the different mural paintings as visual aid  in their Health Classes. (2) Wellness Unlimited which endorses nutrition, health and wellness through education. (3) Wellness: Pinto ng Kumpletong Pagkatao (Entry and Exit Wellness Card Activity) which aims to gauge students understanding on the 5 Healthy Habits through answering the trivia questions. (4)Wellness-All-You-Can which engaged students to highly engaging and interactive learning process. (5) Blow Your Wellness Mind which goal was to evaluate and to strengthen the knowledge of the students on the 5 Healthy Habits. (6) Ikaw at Ako’y Magkaiba Ngunit sa Wellness Tayo’y Magkasama which showcased the creativity of the students through the creation of their own Nutri-Adventure comic strips which helped in thepromotion of the 5 HealthyHabits. (7) Well-Nest: The Home of your Well-Being which resulted to the creation of “Wellness Corner” (8) I am a Wealth and Wellness Expert which was part of the motivational activity during Health Class. (9) Wellness: Kumpleto and Pagkatao Kahit Walang Tayo which used a strategic game that would test the logical analytic skills of the Special Science Class Sections, called Crisscross Word (10) Your Wellness, Your Health which strongly observes the idea that a healthy body leads to a healthy mind.

           The 10 best practices of MNHS that alleviates nutrition health and concerns are (1) Weight, A Minute! The Bawas Timbang Activity Guide which is a planned guide by the clinic in-charge that contains activities designed for obese students to help them meet their nutritional needs. (2) “Kuwentong Almusal” (Promoting Breakfast Meal in School which leads to students getting to eat breakfast together during the first period of class as teachers have observed that during the first hour of class (6:00 am), students in the first shift, Grade 7 and 10, displayed a passive and unmotivated behavior. (3) Agahan Ko, Handog ni Nanay Program wherein MAPEH teachers and advisers tapped the members of the Homeroom PTA to sponsor meals for Grade 7 students who have been identified as severely wasted. (4) Tulong-tulong, Wellness ay Isulong wherein MNHS-STEC Cooperative, MNHS Alumni Association, Parents-Teachers Association and the Supreme Student Government conducts a quarterly feeding program. (5) Family ay Wellness, Together We are One! wherein the family is called upon for students needing attention with their health. (6) The Multi-Wellness Challenge which was made fun through games and challenges. (7) Tara! Sa Wellness Week , Sama-sama which aims to lessen the number of undernourished Grade 10 students. (8) Me, My Body and Tummy Story in which students are tasked to have a Wellness Diary and express their daily Wellness encounter. (9) My Wellness sa Tanghaling Tapat which gives students enough time for lunch. (10) Tayo na at Magsubaybay in which students evaluates their nutritional needs and track their food and drink intake; and live up to the 5 Wellness Habits.

       Annually, DEPED and the Nestlé Wellness Campus program continues to enhance quality of life of the young Filipinos and to help in contributing to healthier tomorrows. This well-planned program leaves an indelible ink in the lives of the MNHS students, teachers, parents and all other stakeholders. Moreover, a well-planned MNHS Wellness Campus Program would be impossible without the unity of both the school and the community.

By: Ma. Angelica D. Manlangit