🔗 Share this article

This plague of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) is truly global. Even though their intake is notably greater in Western nations, constituting over 50% the average diet in the UK and the US, for example, UPFs are taking the place of whole foods in diets on every continent.

This month, the world’s largest review on the dangers to well-being of UPFs was released. It warned that such foods are leaving millions of people to chronic damage, and demanded immediate measures. Previously in the year, a global fund for children revealed that more children around the world were suffering from obesity than underweight for the first time, as junk food floods diets, with the sharpest climbs in less affluent regions.

A leading public health expert, professor of public health nutrition at the University of São Paulo, and one of the analysis's writers, says that businesses motivated by financial gain, not individual choices, are propelling the change in habits.

For parents, it can appear that the complete dietary environment is opposing them. “On occasion it feels like we have zero control over what we are putting on our children's meals,” says one mother from South Asia. We spoke to her and four other parents from across the globe on the increasing difficulties and irritations of providing a balanced nourishment in the time of manufactured foods.

In Nepal: Battling a Child's Desire for Packaged Snacks

Bringing up a child in Nepal today often feels like fighting a losing battle, especially when it comes to food. I make food at home as much as I can, but the instant my daughter leaves the house, she is bombarded with vibrantly wrapped snacks and sugar-laden liquids. She constantly craves cookies, chocolates and bottled fruit beverages – products aggressively advertised to children. A single pizza commercial on TV is enough for her to ask, “Are we getting pizza today?”

Even the school environment reinforces unhealthy habits. Her canteen serves flavored drink every Tuesday, which she eagerly awaits. She receives a small package of biscuits from a friend on the school bus and chocolates on birthdays, and faces a chip shop right outside her school gate.

On certain occasions it feels like the entire food environment is opposing parents who are just striving to raise well-nourished kids.

As someone employed by the a national health coalition and heading a project called Promoting Healthy Foods in Schools, I understand this issue deeply. Yet even with my knowledge, keeping my young child healthy is extremely challenging.

These constant encounters at school, in transit and online make it almost unfeasible for parents to restrict ultra-processed foods. It is not just about children’s choices; it is about a food system that normalises and promotes unhealthy eating.

And the figures reflects exactly what families like mine are facing. A demographic health study found that over two-thirds of children between six and 23 months ate junk food, and 43% were already drinking sweetened beverages.

These numbers are reflected in what I see every day. Research conducted in the area where I live reported that almost one in five of schoolchildren were overweight and 7.1% were clinically overweight, figures directly linked with the increase in processed food intake and increasingly inactive lifestyles. Further research showed that many kids in Nepal eat sugary treats or manufactured savory snacks on a regular basis, and this frequent intake is linked to high levels of oral health problems.

Nepal urgently needs tighter rules, improved educational settings and stricter marketing regulations. Until then, families will continue waging a constant war against unhealthy snacks – one biscuit packet at a time.

Caribbean Challenges: When Fast Food Becomes the Default

My situation is a bit particular as I was forced to relocate from an island in our chain of islands that was destroyed by a major hurricane last year. But it is also part of the harsh truth that is affecting parents in a region that is experiencing the gravest consequences of global warming.

“The circumstances definitely becomes more severe if a hurricane or volcano activity wipes out most of your vegetation.”

Even before the storm, as a food nutrition and health teacher, I was very worried about the growing spread of convenience food outlets. Currently, even local corner stores are participating in the shift of a country once known for a diet of fresh regional fruits and vegetables, to one where oily, salted, sweetened fast food, packed with artificial ingredients, is the choice.

But the condition definitely worsens if a hurricane or geological event decimates most of your crops. Fresh, healthy food becomes rare and very expensive, so it is incredibly challenging to get your kids to eat right.

In spite of having a regular work I am shocked by food prices now and have often resorted to picking one of items such as vegetables and meat and eggs when feeding my four children. Serving fewer meals or reduced helpings have also become part of the recovery survival methods.

Also it is quite convenient when you are managing a stressful occupation with parenting, and rushing around in the morning, to just give the children a couple of coins to buy snacks at school. Unfortunately, most campus food stalls only offer manufactured munchies and sweet fizzy drinks. The outcome of these challenges, I fear, is an rise in the already widespread prevalence of chronic conditions such as blood sugar disorders and cardiovascular strain.

The Allure of Fast Food in Uganda

The logo of a international restaurant franchise towers conspicuously at the entrance of a mall in a city district, tempting you to pass by without stopping at the quick service lane.

Many of the children and parents visiting the mall have never ventured outside the borders of this East African nation. They certainly don’t know about the historical economic crisis that inspired the founder to start one of the first American international food chains. All they know is that the three letters represent all things sophisticated.

At each shopping center and every market, there is fast food for every pocket. As one of the costlier choices, the fried chicken chain is considered a treat. It is the place city residents go to celebrate birthdays and baptisms. It is the children’s reward when they get a good school report. In fact, they are hoping their parents take them there for festive celebrations.

“Mom, do you know that some people take takeaway for school lunch,” my teenage girl, who attends a school in the area, tells me. She says that on the days they do not pack that, they pack food from a regional restaurant brand selling everything from morning meals to burgers.

It is the end of the week, and I am only {half-listening|