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This scourge of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) is a worldwide phenomenon. Even though their intake is especially elevated in Western nations, constituting the majority of the typical food intake in the UK and the US, for example, UPFs are displacing whole foods in diets on each part of the world.

Recently, the world’s largest review on the dangers to well-being of UPFs was published. It warned that such foods are leaving millions of people to long-term harm, and demanded immediate measures. Previously in the year, a major children's agency revealed that more children around the world were overweight than too thin for the initial instance, as junk food dominates diets, with the steepest rises in developing nations.

A noted nutrition professor, an academic specializing in dietary health at the University of São Paulo, and one of the analysis's writers, says that profit-driven corporations, not consumer preferences, are driving the change in habits.

For parents, it can appear that the whole nutritional landscape is opposing them. “At times it feels like we have absolutely no power over what we are placing onto our child's dish,” says one mother from South Asia. We spoke to her and four other parents from internationally on the increasing difficulties and irritations of providing a nutritious food regimen in the age of UPFs.

Nepal: ‘She Craves Cookies, Chocolate and Juice’

Bringing up 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 leaves the house, she is surrounded by vibrantly wrapped snacks and sugar-laden liquids. She continually yearns for cookies, chocolates and processed juice drinks – products heavily marketed to children. One solitary pizza commercial on TV is enough for her to ask, “Are we getting pizza today?”

Even the school environment encourages unhealthy habits. Her canteen serves sweetened fruit juice every Tuesday, which she looks forward to. She gets a small package of biscuits from a friend on the school bus and chocolates on birthdays, and confronts a chip shop right outside her school gate.

On certain occasions it feels like the complete dietary landscape is working against parents who are just striving to raise healthy children.

As someone employed by the Nepal Non-Communicable Disease Alliance and leading a project called Promoting Healthy Foods in Schools, I comprehend this issue deeply. Yet even with my knowledge, keeping my school-age girl healthy is extremely challenging.

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

And the data reflects exactly what households such as my own are experiencing. A comprehensive population report found that 69% of children between six and 23 months ate junk food, and a substantial portion were already drinking sugary drinks.

These figures resonate with what I see every day. Research conducted in the area where I live reported that almost one in five of schoolchildren were above a healthy size and a smaller yet concerning fraction were suffering from obesity, figures closely associated with the surge in junk food consumption and more sedentary lifestyles. Another study showed that many Nepali children eat candy or salty packaged items on a regular basis, and this frequent intake is linked to high levels of tooth decay.

Nepal urgently needs stronger policies, healthier school environments and more stringent promotion limits. In the meantime, families will continue waging a constant war 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 had to evacuate 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 affecting parents in a area that is enduring the gravest consequences of climate change.

“The situation definitely becomes more severe if a hurricane or mountain explosion wipes out most of your crops.”

Before the occurrence of the storm, as a dietary educator, I was deeply concerned about the rising expansion of fast food restaurants. Today, even smaller village shops are involved 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, full of manufactured additives, is the preference.

But the situation definitely worsens if a severe weather event or mountain activity wipes out most of your crops. Unprocessed ingredients becomes rare and prohibitively costly, so it is really difficult to get your kids to consume healthy meals.

Despite having a steady job I flinch at food prices now and have often turned to selecting from items such as vegetables and protein sources when feeding my four children. Providing less food or diminished quantities have also become part of the post-disaster coping strategies.

Also it is very easy when you are managing a stressful occupation with parenting, and hurrying about in the morning, to just give the children a couple of coins to buy snacks at school. Regrettably, most school tuck shops only offer ultra-processed snacks and sugary sodas. The outcome of these difficulties, I fear, is an increase in the already epidemic rates of chronic conditions such as adult-onset diabetes and hypertension.

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

The symbol of a major fried chicken chain stands prominently at the entrance of a mall in a city district, daring you to pass by without stopping at the takeaway window.

Many of the youngsters and guardians visiting the mall have never ventured outside the borders of the country. They certainly don’t know about the bygone era of hardship that led the founder to start one of the first American international food chains. All they know is that the three letters represent all things desirable.

Throughout commercial complexes and every market, there is quick-service cuisine for any income level. As one of the costlier choices, the fried chicken chain is considered a treat. It is the place city residents go to observe birthdays and baptisms. It is the children’s prize when they get a favorable grades. In fact, they are hoping their parents take them there for the holidays.

“Mother, do you know that some people pack fast food for school lunch,” my 14-year-old daughter, 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 fried breakfasts to burgers.

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