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The scourge of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) is truly global. Even though their use is notably greater in developed countries, forming over 50% the average diet in the UK and the US, for example, UPFs are replacing natural ingredients in diets on all corners of the globe.

In the latest development, a comprehensive global study on the dangers to well-being of UPFs was released. It alerted that such foods are subjecting millions of people to long-term harm, and demanded urgent action. Previously in the year, an international child welfare organization revealed that a greater number of youngsters around the world were overweight than too thin for the initial instance, as processed edibles overwhelms diets, with the most dramatic increases in low- and middle-income countries.

A leading public health expert, professor of public health nutrition at the a major educational institution in Brazil, and one of the review's authors, says that profit-driven corporations, not personal decisions, are driving the shift in eating patterns.

For parents, it can feel like the whole nutritional landscape is undermining them. “At times it feels like we have zero control over what we are placing onto our child's dish,” says one mother from India. We spoke to her and four other parents from internationally on the increasing difficulties and frustrations of providing a balanced nourishment in the era of ultra-processing.

Nepal: ‘She Craves Cookies, Chocolate and Juice’

Raising a child in the Himalayan nation today often feels like fighting a losing battle, especially when it comes to food. I prepare meals at home as much as I can, but the moment my daughter goes out, she is bombarded with colorfully presented snacks and sugar-laden liquids. She constantly craves cookies, chocolates and packaged fruit juices – products heavily marketed to children. One solitary pizza commercial on TV is sufficient for her to ask, “Can we have pizza today?”

Even the academic atmosphere reinforces unhealthy habits. Her canteen serves sugary juice every Tuesday, which she eagerly awaits. She gets a six-piece biscuit pack from a friend on the school bus and chocolates on birthdays, and confronts a snack bar right outside her school gate.

Some days it feels like the entire food environment is working against parents who are just striving to raise fit youngsters.

As someone employed by the an organization fighting chronic illnesses and leading a project called Encouraging Nutritious Meals in Education, I grasp this issue deeply. Yet even with my expertise, keeping my school-age girl 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 simply about what kids pick; it is about a dietary structure that normalises and advocates for unhealthy eating.

And the statistics mirrors precisely what families like mine are facing. A demographic health study found that a significant majority of children between six and 23 months ate junk food, and nearly half were already drinking sugary drinks.

These statistics are reflected in what I see every day. Research conducted in the district where I live reported that a notable percentage of schoolchildren were carrying excess weight and 7.1% were obese, figures directly linked with the rise in unhealthy snacking and more sedentary lifestyles. Additional analysis showed that many kids in Nepal eat sugary treats or processed savoury foods on a regular basis, and this habitual eating is tied to high levels of dental cavities.

The country urgently needs stronger policies, improved educational settings and more stringent promotion limits. In the meantime, families will continue fighting a daily battle against junk food – a single cookie pack at a time.

In St. Vincent: The Shift from Local Produce to Processed Meals

My situation is a bit different as I was forced to relocate from an island in our archipelago that was destroyed by a powerful storm last year. But it is also part of the stark reality that is facing parents in a part of the world that is feeling the most severe impacts of global warming.

“The situation definitely deteriorates if a hurricane or mountain explosion eliminates most of your crops.”

Before the occurrence of the storm, as a nutrition instructor, I was extremely troubled about the growing spread of fast food restaurants. Today, even community markets are involved in the change of a country once characterized by a diet of healthy locally grown fruits and vegetables, to one where fatty, briny, candied fast food, full of synthetic components, is the choice.

But the scenario definitely deteriorates if a natural disaster or volcanic eruption wipes out most of your produce. Fresh, healthy food becomes hard to find and prohibitively costly, so it is incredibly challenging to get your kids to have a proper diet.

Regardless of having a stable employment I flinch at food prices now and have often resorted to selecting from items such as legumes and pulses and protein sources when feeding my four children. Serving fewer meals or smaller servings have also become part of the post-crisis adaptation techniques.

Also it is quite convenient when you are juggling a challenging career with parenting, and hurrying about in the morning, to just give the children a small amount of cash to buy snacks at school. Unfortunately, most educational snack bars only offer ultra-processed snacks and sugary sodas. The outcome of these difficulties, I fear, is an increase in the already epidemic rates of lifestyle diseases such as blood sugar disorders and high blood pressure.

Uganda: ‘It’s in Every Mall and Every Market’

The symbol of a global fast-food brand stands prominently at the entrance of a commercial complex in a urban area, daring you to pass by without stopping at the quick service lane.

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 historical economic crisis that motivated the founder to start one of the first worldwide restaurant networks. All they know is that the brand name represent all things sophisticated.

Throughout commercial complexes and each trading place, there is quick-service cuisine for all budgets. As one of the more expensive options, the fried chicken chain is considered a special occasion. It is the place Kampala’s families go to observe birthdays and baptisms. It is the children’s incentive when they get a positive academic results. In fact, they are hoping their parents take them there for Christmas.

“Mum, do you know that some people bring 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 local quick-service outlet selling everything from cooked morning dishes to burgers.

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