In Shamu Patel village, the children’s health is shaped by poor living conditions, including overcrowded households, unsafe sanitation, and limited access to clean water
Sidra Shaikh
For children born into marginalized communities, poor health, persistent stunting, and early entry into labor become normalized aspects of everyday life rather than exceptional conditions. Similarly, Shamu Patel, a village on the outskirts of Hyderabad, illustrates this pattern through widespread cases of child growth faltering and stunting, where taking on responsibilities at a very young age is socially accepted despite being physically demanding and harmful to children’s health.
Children typically begin their day by fetching water from long distances and end it by collecting firewood and assisting their mothers in making dung cakes used as fuel. These tasks consume most of their day, leaving little time for rest, nutrition, or play. As one child shared during fieldwork, “I have been carrying the responsibility of fetching water since I was so young, lifting a bucket. Along with this, children also own food stalls and perform shop-keeping duties.” Such routines are repeated daily over long periods, including during critical phases of physical growth, and when combined with existing nutritional deficiencies, they contribute to chronic under-nutrition and persistent stunting rather than temporary growth delays.
According to the NIH Nutritional Survey, 44% of children in marginalized communities of Pakistan are stunted. These outcomes are largely produced by structural neglect, limited health literacy, and weak protection of child rights operating within a specific local context.
A major contributor to vulnerable childhood is the absence of a functional schooling system. Lack of access to formal education not only limits cognitive growth but also reduces health awareness and basic social development, causing children to remain confined to the cycle of poverty, labor, and limited life choices.
Furthermore, in Shamu Patel village, children’s health is shaped by poor living conditions, including overcrowded households, unsafe sanitation, and limited access to clean water. Continuous exposure to unhygienic environments significantly increases the risk of infections, which affect children more rapidly and severely due to their ongoing growth, higher nutritional requirements, and greater exposure to pollutants and pathogens. As a result, inadequate access to food, clean water, and sanitation weakens the immune system and compromises children’s growth and overall well-being.
At present, children suffering from anemia, iron deficiency, and stunted growth appear to be emerging outcomes of persistent structural neglect in marginalized communities of Pakistan. Addressing these crises requires a multi-sectoral approach. Improvements in infrastructure—such as drinking water systems, sanitation facilities, and healthcare services—are essential, but economic empowerment of families and access to education should be priorities as crucial steps to dismantling the structural pressures that normalize child labor across generations, as seen in Shamo Patel village, and in marginalized communities across Pakistan.
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Sidra Shaikh is Anthropology Graduate from University Of Sindh Jamshoro, working as Research Associate at Agha Khan University (Matiari Research and Training Centre).
