by Eugene C. Cruzin and Margaret Ann Bettina Papag

Nutribun. Does it still ring a bell?

Children who have tasted nutribun in the 1970s would remember it as a round palm-sized, light brown bread that tastes slightly sweet and malinamnam, firm yet soft to the bite.

Branded as masarap at masustansya (delicious and nutritious), it is packed with nutrients children need at critical ages. Hence, nutribun was given to preschool kids in feeding programs nationwide to fight malnutrition.

The bread was made of “wheat blend flour and non-fat dried milk,” which provides one-third of the daily recommended dietary energy and protein allowance for children ages three to seven. This was their childhood’s “daily bread,” an answer to malnutrition.

Malnutrition affects children aged 5-10. According to the 2022 Global Nutrition Report, this age group is prone to stunting, and there are 28.8% malnourished and 5.8% wasting children in the Philippines.

Based on a report by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the Philippines, 95 children suffer and die from malnutrition daily, and 27 out of 1,000 Filipino children die at the age of five because of a higher malnutrition rate.

According to the 2018 Expanded National Nutritional Survey, children aged 6-9 during the pandemic had 63.1% vitamin A inadequacy, while those in the 10-12 age bracket had 76.1%.

In this situation, the ‘nutribun’ is making a comeback in different forms.

Laguna Initiatives

During the COVID-19 pandemic, limited food supplements were made available for children considered malnourished, stunted, and wasting—the mechanism of many local government units in Laguna, including Calauan, Bay, and Sta. Cruz and Los Baños.

The Provincial Nutrition Action Office (PNAO) of Laguna organizes its enhanced nutribun called

“Nutrinapay,” which aims to support lactating mothers and children under 4 to 8 years old.

Nutibaños in Los Baños

In Los Baños, the LGU is reviving nutribun and rebranding it as Nutribaños. According to Alforja, the town is one of the pioneers of bringing back the nutribun to the community. Renamed Nutribaños, it was launched in November 2020 and originally planned for students in public schools.

This nutribun was distributed to all barangays in Los Baños, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The mechanism of Los Baños brought them to recalibrate the taste, size, color, and flavor of the traditional nutribun, which led them to develop their bread called “Nutribaños,” a food supplement that helps the children to achieve the desired weight for their age.

The bread weighs 50-70 grams per piece, making it easier for children to consume. Each Nutribaños has 504 calories, 17.8 grams of protein, 6.08 milligrams of iron, and 244 micrograms of vitamin A. The Nutribaños provides more than half the requirements of children ages 5-12 for vitamin A.

The Local Government of Los Baños and the MNAO kept pushing the community to consume Nutribaños not as a part of the diet, but as a nutritional component.

“…ang pinaka-priority namin na beneficiaries ay mga schools, DepEd public na mga schools, kaso nga lang ay nag-pandemic noong 2020, kaya nag-shift kami sa mga beneficiaries ng Municipal Nutrition Action Office ng mga undernourished na children, pati sa mga buntis na teenagers na buntis. Pati sa mga mga high-risk na buntis, so sila yung mga beneficiaries natin.”

(… Our top priority beneficiaries were the public schools in DepEd. However, the pandemic happened last 2020, so we decided to shift the beneficiaries of the Municipal Nutrition Action Office to undernourished children. We also included pregnant teenagers and high-risk pregnant [women] as our beneficiaries.)

The goal

However, the COVID-19 pandemic halted the feeding program especially during the lockdown. Thus, the Nutribaños were given to beneficiaries during the pandemic, prioritizing undernourished children and pregnant or lactating mothers.

Alforja narrated that they tested the Nutribaños among potential beneficiaries in schools and houses to make it part of an effective nutrition program.

“Nag-trial pa kami… nagpa-sensor kami sa acceptability ng lasa, texture, [at] size ng ating nutribun sa [mga empleyado sa] munisipyo, [at] sa mga estudyante,” Alforja said during an interview.

(We underwent sensory evaluation trials with the acceptability of the taste, texture, and size of the nutribun before implementing the feeding program among the employees in the municipality and students.)

Located at the back of the Municipal Government of Los Baños is a bakery established in 2021. Here, every nutri-related product, including the Nutribaños, is made.

“Sa undernourished children kami pati sa mga teenagers na buntis [nag-focus], pati sa mga

high-risk na buntis, sila ‘yung mga beneficiaries namin,” Alforja said.

(We focused on undernourished children and pregnant teenagers, even on high-risk pregnant women. They are the beneficiaries of our office.)

Nutritional Value of Nutribaños

The Nutribaños provides additional calories and nutrients to meals to address malnutrition. According to Alforja, the Nutribaños has reduced malnutrition cases in Los Banos. She pointed out that 87-90% of their beneficiaries, specifically malnourished children, have improved in weight.

But what is inside the Nutribaños that makes this nutritious? It contains the Micronutrient Powder (MNP) or various vitamins and minerals in a small, green package manufactured by the Philippine Nutri-Foods Corporation (PNFC), a subsidiary of the Nutrition Center of the Philippines (NCP). The MNP has Vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, C, D, E, copper, folic acid, iodine, iron, selenium, and zinc measured in appropriate microgram and milligrams that could meet the nutritional needs of the beneficiaries.

Contents	Measure of Weight
Vitamin A (Retinol)	400 mcg
Vitamin D	5 mcg
Vitamin E	5 mg
Vitamin C	30 mg
Thiamin (B1)	0.5 mg
Riboflavin (B2)	0.5 mg
Niacin (B3)	6 mg
Pyridoxine (B6)	0.5 mg
Cyanocobalamin (B12)	0.9 mg
Folic Acid	150 mcg
Iron	10 mg
Zinc	4.1 mg
Copper	0.56 mg
Selenium	17 mcg
Iodine	90 mcg
	Net weight: 1.0 g

Table 1. Composition of the Micronutrient Powder (MNP)

Enhancing the flavors

What makes the Nutribaños interesting is the added varieties of flavors of the nutribun. Alforja says the Nutribaños flavors are chocolate, malunggay, pandan, ube, and strawberry. Hence, the beneficiaries will not grow tired of eating the same flavor daily. After all, the feeding program lasts from 90 to 120 days.

As the Nutribaños project progresses each year, the MNAO considered other products to offer their beneficiaries. Other Nutri-related products include Nutricookies, Nutricrinkles, Nutridonuts, and Nutrihopia.

In a post on the MNAO Los Baños Facebook page are the featured nutri-related products of the MNAO, where it is also mentioned that November is Nutribaños Month.

According to Alforja, the same Micronutrient Powder is incorporated in these new products which keeps them nutritious.

“Kaya siya nagiging nutri-, gawa [ng MNP],” Alforja said. (These -products are called Nutri- due to the added MNP.)

Alternative Programs

Aside from the Nutribaños project, the MNAO provides other programs, such as the Adopt-Child-Program, where neighbors help one another in portioning their meals and giving them to neighboring households. It boosts and helps in improving the nutritional health data of MNAO.

Moreover, the MNAO also provides a ready-to-use therapeutic caloric-dense peanut butter paste that adds to the nutritional value of the classified malnourished children. According to Alforja, they supply these additional food supplements to provide more for their beneficiaries.

The Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS) are responsible for sending additional therapeutic food supplements to their target beneficiaries.

“Bukod pa sa mga RUTF [food supplement] na available namin, mga mumsies na pambuntis at [nagpapagatas], mga galing talaga sa head office na binababa dito yung mga ganu’n na items.”

(Aside from our available RUTF, there are also mumsies [food supplements] for pregnant and [lactating mothers], which are all from the head office and which are provided to our office.)

The Municipal Nutrition Action Office of Los Baños is partnering with public schools to start the Nutribaños project at the start of classes this July 2024.

Nutritional Advice

Even though there are nutritional components that Nutribaños has to offer, Alforja suggests that the balance of Go, Grow, and Glow foods must be considered.

“So, may rice, go, grow, and glow. So, [dapat] may kanin tapos may prutas, pero ito, since undernourished nga ‘yung pinag-uusapan natin na beneficiaries, kailangan dapat may pandagdag doon sa regular nila na meals. Ito na ‘yun, dito na papasok yung Nutribaños, pandagdag sa calories and nutrients doon sa mga beneficiaries natin.”

(It is important to have go, grow, and glow foods. There’s rice and fruits, but since we are talking about undernourished beneficiaries, they must have additions to their regular meals. This is where the Nutribaños comes in and will add to our beneficiaries’ calorie and nutrient intake.)

With government initiatives such as the MNAO’s Nutribaños, malnutrition can be mitigated from one barangay to another. Little steps can go a long way – just like how the small nutribun started a nutrition program that will ring a bell for future generations of Filipinos.