Health and Nutrition Screening by Puskesmas Payangan

Good health is essential. As part of the Holiday Program and to support students’ well-being, Begawan Learning Centre collaborated with Puskesmas Payangan (Payangan Public Health Centre) to conduct health screening and monitor the students’ wellness and nutrition. Five health workers, representing the Health Centre, came to conduct the screening. This collaboration aims to be a part of Begawan and Puskesmas Payangan’s commitment to paying attention to student health. 

The screening began at nine in the morning with the students filling in their identity form. After filling in the form, the students lined up to take turns to wait for their health screening. The first step was to identify their habits, with questions asked – how many times did they wash their hair in a week, brush their teeth in a day, and cut their nails. These questions helped the students to understand their habits..

After the first step, each student measured their weight and height. This step was necessary to calculate the students’ nutrition. Then the screening moved on to check their oral cavity health. A doctor checked the students’ oral cavities and advised the students who might have dental problems because children at a young age tend to eat sweets and forget to brush their teeth. 

Checking on the students’ eyesight was the last step in this health screening. The students were asked to see and speak the words shown to them from a particular distance. The doctor also asked the students to mention numbers in the Ishihara Colour Test Book for the colour blind test to identify whether they see the normal range of colours or not. 

After conducting the screening, a representative from Puskesmas Payangan gave a presentation about parts of the body that are allowed and not allowed to be touched by someone else. This was the opportunity for the students to understand body authority and that they have a right to resist when someone touches their body parts without consent.

After an insightful and fun health screening time, Puskesmas Payangan gave referral letters to a few students who they felt needed further medical check-ups. A regular health check-up is necessary to prevent medical problems that may occur in the future for children. We would sincerely like to express our gratitude towards Puskesmas Payangan for conducting health and nutrition screening every six months at our Learning Centre. (Devi Devanthi)