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T menace of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) is an international crisis. Even though their consumption is particularly high in the west, constituting more than half the average diet in places such as the United Kingdom and United States, for example, UPFs are taking the place of natural ingredients in diets on every continent.

Recently, the world’s largest review on the dangers to well-being of UPFs was published. It warned that such foods are exposing millions of people to persistent health issues, and called for immediate measures. Earlier this year, a global fund for children revealed that an increased count of kids around the world were obese than too thin for the first time, as unhealthy snacks overwhelms diets, with the sharpest climbs in low- and middle-income countries.

A noted nutrition professor, professor of public health nutrition at the a major educational institution in Brazil, and one of the review's authors, says that businesses motivated by financial gain, not personal decisions, are propelling the shift in eating patterns.

For parents, it can seem as if the complete dietary environment is working against them. “On occasion it feels like we have absolutely no power over what we are serving on our children's meals,” says one mother from India. We conversed with her and four other parents from internationally on the increasing difficulties and frustrations of supplying a healthy diet in the era of ultra-processing.

Nepal: ‘She Craves Cookies, Chocolate and Juice’

Bringing up a child in the Himalayan nation today often feels like battling an uphill struggle, especially when it comes to food. I prepare meals at home as much as I can, but the moment my daughter steps outside, she is encircled by colorfully presented snacks and sugar-laden liquids. She constantly craves cookies, chocolates and bottled fruit beverages – products heavily marketed to children. A single pizza commercial on TV is all it takes for her to ask, “Is it possible to eat pizza today?”

Even the school environment reinforces unhealthy habits. Her school lunchroom serves sweetened fruit juice every Tuesday, which she looks forward to. She gets a packet of six cookies from a friend on the school bus and chocolates on birthdays, and confronts a snack bar right outside her school gate.

On certain occasions it feels like the entire food environment is opposing parents who are merely attempting to raise healthy children.

As someone employed by the a national health coalition and leading a project called Encouraging Nutritious Meals in Education, I understand this issue profoundly. Yet even with my professional background, keeping my young child healthy is extremely challenging.

These ongoing experiences at school, in transit and online make it almost unfeasible for parents to curb ultra-processed foods. It is not just about the selections of the young; it is about a food system that makes standard and advocates for unhealthy eating.

And the data shows clearly what parents in my situation are facing. A recent national survey found that a significant majority of children between six and 23 months ate poor dietary items, and 43% were already drinking flavored liquids.

These statistics echo what I see every day. A study conducted in the area where I live reported that 18.6% of schoolchildren were carrying excess weight and a smaller yet concerning fraction were clinically overweight, figures closely associated with the rise in unhealthy snacking and less active lifestyles. Another study showed that many youngsters of the country eat sweet snacks or processed savoury foods on a regular basis, and this habitual eating is associated with high levels of tooth decay.

This nation urgently needs stronger policies, better nutritional atmospheres in schools and more stringent promotion limits. In the meantime, families will continue fighting a daily battle against junk food – an individual snack bag at a time.

St Vincent and the Grenadines: ‘Greasy, Salty, Sugary Fast Food is the Preference’

My situation is a bit unique as I was compelled to move from an island in our archipelago that was devastated by a severe cyclone last year. But it is also part of the harsh truth that is confronting parents in a region that is enduring the most severe impacts of environmental shifts.

“The situation definitely deteriorates if a hurricane or mountain explosion wipes out most of your vegetation.”

Prior to the storm, as a dietary educator, I was extremely troubled about the increasing proliferation of quick-service eateries. Currently, even smaller village shops are participating in the shift of a country once defined by a diet of healthy locally grown fruits and vegetables, to one where fatty, briny, candied fast food, loaded with synthetic components, is the preference.

But the situation definitely intensifies if a severe weather event or volcanic eruption wipes out most of your produce. Unprocessed ingredients becomes hard to find and very expensive, so it is incredibly challenging to get your kids to eat right.

Regardless of having a steady job I wince at food prices now and have often resorted to selecting from items such as legumes and pulses and animal products when feeding my four children. Serving fewer meals or reduced helpings have also become part of the post-disaster coping strategies.

Also it is rather simple when you are managing a stressful occupation with parenting, and hurrying about in the morning, to just give the children a little money to buy snacks at school. Sadly, most campus food stalls only offer manufactured munchies and carbonated beverages. The result of these difficulties, I fear, is an rise in the already alarming levels of non-communicable illnesses such as adult-onset diabetes and cardiovascular strain.

The Allure of Fast Food in Uganda

The symbol of a global fast-food brand looms large at the entrance of a commercial complex in a Kampala neighbourhood, tempting you to pass by without stopping at the drive-through.

Many of the kids and caregivers visiting the mall have never ventured outside the borders of the country. They certainly don’t know about the bygone era of hardship that motivated the founder to start one of the first global eatery brands. All they know is that the brand name represent all things desirable.

At each shopping center and each trading place, there is convenience meals for any income level. As one of the more expensive options, 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 favorable grades. In fact, they are hoping their parents take them there for the holidays.

“Mum, 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 popular east African fast-food chain selling everything from morning meals to burgers.

It is Friday evening, and I am only {half-listening|