Investing In Family Planning As A Pathway To Improved Nutrition For National Development
Ghana’s success at her development efforts, particularly in reaping the demographic dividend and attaining an upper middle income status depends largely on the health of its people. With strong healthy, educated and economically empowered citizens, Ghana will prosper and thrive as her citizens would be able to contribute meaningfully to her wealth creation and prosperity. One of the best ways to ensure good health is through proper nutrition especially at the early stages of life. However, in many parts of the country, proper nutrition remains a big challenge especially among poor communities.
Good nutrition has tremendous benefits for individuals, families and communities in countless ways. It improves physical growth and intellectual development. This leads to better performance at school by young people and in the long run, greater productivity in the labour force as well as increased household wages thus lifting many families out of poverty. Recent findings associate 10.5 percent of all class repetitions in Ghanaian schools to stunting. This makes issues of nutrition exceptionally critical in our development efforts. A key way to improve the nutritional status of women, infants and children is through investment in Family Planning.