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This scourge of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) is a worldwide phenomenon. Even though their consumption is especially elevated in Western nations, making up the majority of the usual nourishment in places such as the United Kingdom and United States, for example, UPFs are displacing whole foods in diets on each part of the world.

Recently, the world’s largest review on the risks to physical condition of UPFs was published. It warned that such foods are exposing millions of people to chronic damage, and called for swift intervention. Earlier this year, a major children's agency revealed that more children around the world were suffering from obesity than underweight for the historic moment, as unhealthy snacks dominates diets, with the most dramatic increases in low- and middle-income countries.

A noted nutrition professor, professor of public health nutrition at the University of São Paulo, and one of the study's contributors, says that businesses motivated by financial gain, not personal decisions, are fueling the change in habits.

For parents, it can appear that the entire food system is undermining them. “Sometimes it feels like we have zero control over what we are placing onto our children's meals,” says one mother from the Indian subcontinent. We interviewed her and four other parents from around the world on the expanding hurdles and frustrations of providing a healthy diet in the age of UPFs.

Nepal: ‘She Craves Cookies, Chocolate and Juice’

Nurturing a child in this South Asian country today often feels like battling an uphill struggle, especially when it comes to food. I make food at home as much as I can, but the moment my daughter steps outside, she is surrounded by vibrantly wrapped snacks and sweetened beverages. She constantly craves cookies, chocolates and packaged fruit juices – products heavily marketed to children. One solitary pizza commercial on TV is all it takes for her to ask, “Can we have pizza today?”

Even the educational setting perpetuates unhealthy habits. Her canteen serves sugary juice every Tuesday, which she anxiously anticipates. She gets a small package of biscuits from a friend on the school bus and chocolates on birthdays, and encounters a snack bar right outside her school gate.

At times it feels like the whole nutritional ecosystem is undermining parents who are simply trying to raise well-nourished kids.

As someone employed by the Nepal Non-Communicable Disease Alliance and heading a project called Advocating for Better School Diets, I grasp this issue deeply. Yet even with my knowledge, keeping my school-age girl healthy is incredibly difficult.

These ongoing experiences at school, in transit and online make it almost unfeasible for parents to limit ultra-processed foods. It is not simply about what kids pick; it is about a nutritional framework that makes standard and promotes unhealthy eating.

And the statistics reflects exactly what parents in my situation are facing. A recent national survey found that a significant majority of children between six and 23 months ate junk food, and nearly half were already drinking sweetened beverages.

These figures echo what I see every day. Research conducted in the district where I live reported that 18.6% of schoolchildren were above a healthy size and 7.1% were clinically overweight, figures directly linked with the increase in processed food intake and more sedentary lifestyles. Additional analysis showed that many Nepali children eat candy or salty packaged items almost daily, and this frequent intake is associated with high levels of dental cavities.

This nation urgently needs more robust regulations, healthier school environments and stricter marketing regulations. Until then, families will continue fighting a daily battle against unhealthy snacks – an individual snack bag at a time.

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

My circumstances is a bit different as I was forced to relocate from an island in our archipelago that was devastated by a major hurricane last year. But it is also part of the stark reality that is confronting parents in a part of the world that is feeling the gravest consequences of climate change.

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

Prior to the storm, as a nutrition instructor, I was very worried about the growing spread of quick-service eateries. Nowadays, even community markets are involved in the change of a country once known for a diet of nutritious home-produced fruits and vegetables, to one where greasy, salty, sugary fast food, loaded with synthetic components, is the choice.

But the situation definitely worsens if a natural disaster or volcanic eruption wipes out most of your crops. Nutritious whole foods becomes hard to find and extremely pricey, so it is really difficult to get your kids to have a proper diet.

Despite having a stable employment I am shocked by food prices now and have often turned to selecting from items such as vegetables and animal products when feeding my four children. Serving fewer meals or diminished quantities have also become part of the post-disaster coping strategies.

Also it is quite convenient when you are managing a demanding job with parenting, and hurrying about in the morning, to just give the children a couple of coins to buy snacks at school. Sadly, most educational snack bars only offer highly packaged treats and sweet fizzy drinks. The consequence of these hurdles, I fear, is an rise in the already alarming levels of lifestyle diseases such as blood sugar disorders and high blood pressure.

The Allure of Fast Food in Uganda

The logo of a international restaurant franchise looms large at the entrance of a shopping center in a Kampala neighbourhood, tempting you to pass by without stopping at the takeaway window.

Many of the children and parents visiting the mall have never ventured outside the borders of Uganda. They certainly don’t know about the historical economic crisis that led the founder to start one of the first global eatery brands. All they know is that the three letters represent all things desirable.

Throughout commercial complexes and every market, there is fast food for every pocket. As one of the pricier selections, the fried chicken chain is considered a treat. It is the place Kampala’s families go to observe birthdays and baptisms. It is the children’s incentive when they get a good school report. In fact, they are hoping their parents take them there for Christmas.

“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 local quick-service outlet selling everything from cooked morning dishes to burgers.

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