A generation of young Pakistanis is growing up in a world where playgrounds are disappearing and screens are becoming constant companions. As cities expand and digital devices dominate daily life, childhood is increasingly confined indoors. The consequences extend far beyond recreation. Poor nutrition, reduced physical activity, and excessive screen exposure are contributing to a generation facing slower physical growth, declining mental well-being, and long-term health risks. Nearly 38 percent of Pakistani children under five are stunted, one of the highest rates in Asia, while average child height has remained largely stagnant for decades. In contrast, countries such as China and Japan have shown that sustained investment in nutrition, school meal programs, and physical education can dramatically improve children’s growth and overall health.
The World Health Organization recommends no screen time for children under two and no more than one hour per day for those aged two to five. In Pakistan, those limits are routinely exceeded. Smartphones and tablets have become common sources of entertainment, often replacing outdoor play. Pediatricians increasingly associate excessive screen use with sleep disruption, reduced attention span, behavioral problems, and emotional distress. A 2025 study conducted in Lahore among children aged four to fifteen found that nearly half of those spending more than two hours daily on screens experienced sleep disturbances and behavioral difficulties. Global research has also linked prolonged recreational screen time with anxiety, social withdrawal, and reduced physical activity.
While digital dependence grows, the spaces designed for children continue to shrink. Across Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, and other urban centers, public parks and playgrounds have steadily given way to commercial construction and illegal encroachments. Court proceedings and media investigations have documented numerous cases in which land reserved for recreation was converted into buildings or private developments. Karachi courts have repeatedly ordered authorities to restore playgrounds taken over by developers, highlighting the scale of the problem. With fewer safe places to play, children spend more time indoors, reinforcing sedentary lifestyles that affect both physical development and lifelong health.
The nutritional picture is equally alarming. According to UNICEF and the World Health Organization, 37.6 percent of Pakistani children under five are stunted, reflecting chronic undernutrition during the most critical years of development. Stunting affects far more than height. It weakens immunity, impairs cognitive development, reduces educational achievement, and limits future earning potential. Persistent rates of malnutrition also indicate wider shortcomings in healthcare, sanitation, and access to balanced diets.
Other Asian countries illustrate that these outcomes are not inevitable. China’s Nutrition Improvement Program, launched in 2011, expanded free and subsidized school meals to millions of rural students while improving food quality and school kitchen facilities. Official data show that average child height increased by approximately 7.9 centimeters between 1989 and 2015. Japan adopted a nationwide school lunch program in the 1950s and integrated nutrition education and daily physical activity into school life. Over the following decades, Japanese children experienced substantial gains in average height alongside consistently low childhood obesity rates. In both countries, child nutrition was treated as a national investment rather than a welfare expense.
Pakistan is already paying the price for failing to make similar investments. International estimates suggest that undernutrition costs the country roughly two to three percent of its GDP each year through lower productivity, increased healthcare spending, and weaker educational outcomes. The growing mental health burden associated with excessive screen use, including anxiety, depression, poor sleep, and attention disorders, adds another layer of economic and social cost that will continue into adulthood if left unaddressed.
The solutions are neither complex nor unfamiliar. Governments must strictly protect public parks and playgrounds from illegal construction while ensuring that new housing developments include legally protected green spaces. School meal programs should be expanded nationwide to improve child nutrition, and daily physical education should become a core part of every school curriculum rather than an optional activity. Parents, schools, and healthcare professionals must also work together to encourage healthier digital habits and limit recreational screen time.
Pakistan’s shrinking playgrounds reflect a broader neglect of childhood. The experiences of China and Japan show that determined public policy can improve nutrition, physical development, and overall well-being within a generation. Pakistan already possesses the evidence and the policy options. What remains is the commitment to place children at the center of national development. Without that commitment, millions will continue to grow up surrounded by concrete and screens instead of safe playgrounds, healthy meals, and the opportunities every child deserves.
Muhammad Talmeez is a young columnist and entrepreneur who covers every challenge Pakistan faces, from tech and finance to cleanliness and beyond.
He can be reached at X: @m_telmeez | LinkedIn: Muhammad Talmeez
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