New Delhi: Heavy school bags are often blamed for back pain among children, but physiotherapy experts say increasingly sedentary lifestyles, prolonged screen use and poor movement habits are emerging as bigger concerns. The Indian Association of Physiotherapists (IAP) has flagged a 40% rise in musculoskeletal problems among schoolchildren and called for preventive interventions in schools.The concern comes ahead of the World Physiotherapy Asia Western Pacific Regional Conference 2026, scheduled to be held at Yashobhoomi in Dwarka on Sept 26 and 27.Prof Dr Sanjiv K Jha, organising chair of the conference, said children were spending long hours studying and using screens, while physical activity, strength, flexibility and fitness received less attention.Recent AIIMS research supported by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) highlighted the concern. The two-year study, which began in Oct 2023, followed 380 adolescents aged 15-18 years from two private schools in Delhi and identified a range of posture and musculoskeletal problems, including forward posture, neck and shoulder pain, lower-back pain, iliotibial band and hamstring tightness, reduced flexibility and flat feet.Researchers also noted less squatting, cross-legged sitting and barefoot activity among Delhi teens, alongside prolonged sitting, slouching over phones and inadequate warm-up.A Bhopal study of 934 children found 55.9% reported pain in the previous year, 41.6% in the preceding 10 days and 21.3% had seen a doctor; school bags averaged 16.5% of body weight. An Odisha study found musculoskeletal pain in 18.8% of 10-16-year-olds. Experts said back pain cannot be blamed on schoolbags alone, with inactivity, prolonged sitting, poor movement habits, previous injuries and psychosocial factors also contributing.“We should not totally link childhood back pain to a heavy-school bag problem. Children need regular movement, physical fitness, strength, flexibility and good movement habits,” said Dr Ruchi Varshney, organising secretary, WPAWP 2026. She said physiotherapy could help schools introduce preventive programmes focusing on movement education, early identification of problems and healthy physical activity rather than waiting for pain to become persistent.IAP experts said schools could play a key role in promoting movement education, posture awareness, physical fitness and early screening to prevent musculoskeletal problems.The conference, hosted by IAP, is expected to bring together over 10,000 physiotherapy professionals from India and 32 countries.
