UST, BSU, Letran bag top prizes

Nestlé Philippines, through its partnership with the Nutritionist-Dietitians' Association of the Philippines recently awarded the winners of the first Nutrition Masterclass Interschool Competition that challenged students to make nutrition topics more understandable and relatable for Filipinos through short and animated videos.

Emerging as Champion among the seven schools that participated is the University of Santo Tomas. The team of Ciara May Dolfo, Trisha Ysabelle de Guzman, Rica Marrie Ganzon, Angelica Magullado and Czarina Rodriguez created a video that highlighted the importance of eating breakfast, especially to keep children energized throughout the day. Students from the Batangas State University were awarded as 1st Runner-Up, also for their breakfast video, while Colegio de San Juan de Letran took home the 2nd Runner-Up prize for explaining fad diets and what Filipinos need to know about it.

"The digital age has provided various platforms that help improve the way we educate Filipinos about proper nutrition. With this competition, our nutrition students were able to leverage online platforms like YouTube to disseminate key information that can help guide Filipinos to make better health choices," said Zenaida Velasco, president of NDAP.

"We are grateful for the support of Nestlé Philippines in making this competition possible, as we share a common goal to support the professional growth of registered and future nutritionists and dietitians in the country," she added.

The Nutrition Masterclass Interschool Competition ran from September to November 2022 and was open to nutrition undergraduates from participating schools. Entries were judged by NDAP and Nestlé Philippines based on the accuracy of the information discussed, creativity and originality in presenting the topic, and its effectivity in reaching its target audience.

The other participating schools were Cebu Doctors University, Centro Escolar University, Manila Tytana Colleges and University of the Philippines Los Baños.

"As the Kasambuhay for Good of Filipinos, Nestlé Philippines will continue to partner with organizations like NDAP to underscore the importance of nutrition education in enabling children and their families to lead healthier and happier lives. We encourage and look forward to helping empower nutrition students to lead the discussion about simple yet important health topics such as eating breakfast, having balanced diets, and drinking enough water and milk," said Jose Uy III, senior vice president and Head of Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability at Nestlé Philippines.

Aside from the Nutrition Masterclass Interschool Competition, Nestlé Philippines and NDAP also recently launched the Nestlé Nutrition Masterclass website that makes available articles, journals and other locally-relevant resource materials for registered Filipino Nutritionist-Dietitians. They also co-organize free webinars for NDAP members and help create nutrition videos for the benefit of the general public.