Ejike Oji, the chairman of the Association for the Advancement of Family Planning (AAFP) in Nigeria, says family planning can prevent stunted growth in children.

Mr Oji made the remark in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Monday.

He disclosed that children’s brain development occurred in the first 1,000 days of their birth, adding that a child’s inability to access certain diets could result in stunted growth.

“Homes without family planning can be in poverty which is likely to cause a shortage in supply of some food items needed for the child’s brain development,” said Mr Oji.

Mr Oji explained that a lot of children had been subjected to avoidable anatomical and economic deformities due to a lack of family planning.

The AAFP chairman stated that family planning could boost both parents’ income and positively impact the children.

He said spacing children’s birth was key to the economic viability of both homes and nations and urged families to take up family planning services.

Mr Oji affirmed the commitment of AAFP to family planning, saying it is the key to economic reforms.

According to him, Nigeria’s fertility rate is currently 4.8, which is very high.

He said the government’s economic policies would continue to suffer setbacks unless the country’s fertility rate dropped.

The global standard for fertility rate is 2.5.

(NAN)