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T menace of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) is an international crisis. Although their consumption is particularly high in developed countries, forming the majority of the typical food intake in the UK and the US, for example, UPFs are taking the place of whole foods in diets on each part of the world.

In the latest development, an extensive international analysis on the risks to physical condition of UPFs was released. It cautioned that such foods are exposing millions of people to persistent health issues, and urged swift intervention. Earlier this year, a major children's agency revealed that an increased count of kids around the world were overweight than underweight for the first time, as junk food overwhelms diets, with the steepest rises in less affluent regions.

A leading public health expert, professor of public health nutrition at the University of São Paulo, and one of the review's authors, says that businesses motivated by financial gain, not personal decisions, are driving the transformation in dietary behavior.

For parents, it can seem as if the entire food system is working against them. “On occasion it feels like we have no authority over what we are serving on our kid’s plate,” says one mother from the Indian subcontinent. We interviewed her and four other parents from internationally on the growing challenges and annoyances of ensuring a nutritious food regimen in the age of UPFs.

Nepal: ‘She Craves Cookies, Chocolate and Juice’

Bringing up a child in Nepal today often feels like trying to swim against the current, especially when it comes to food. I make food at home as much as I can, but the second my daughter goes out, she is encircled by brightly packaged snacks and sugary drinks. She continually yearns for cookies, chocolates and processed juice drinks – products intensively promoted to children. One solitary pizza commercial on TV is all it takes for her to ask, “Can we have pizza today?”

Even the school environment reinforces unhealthy habits. Her cafeteria serves sweetened fruit juice every Tuesday, which she anxiously anticipates. She is given a six-piece biscuit pack 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 undermining parents who are merely attempting to raise fit youngsters.

As someone working in the Nepal Non-Communicable Disease Alliance and spearheading a project called Promoting Healthy Foods in Schools, I understand this issue profoundly. Yet even with my professional background, keeping my school-age girl healthy is incredibly difficult.

These repeated exposures at school, in transit and online make it almost unfeasible for parents to limit ultra-processed foods. It is not only about children’s choices; it is about a dietary structure that encourages and promotes unhealthy eating.

And the statistics reflects exactly what families like mine are going through. A recent national survey found that over two-thirds of children between six and 23 months ate unhealthy foods, and a substantial portion were already drinking flavored liquids.

These figures echo what I see every day. An analysis conducted in the area where I live reported that almost one in five of schoolchildren were overweight and 7.1% were suffering from obesity, figures strongly correlated with the rise in processed food intake and more sedentary lifestyles. Additional analysis showed that many kids in Nepal eat candy or manufactured savory snacks nearly every day, and this regular consumption is linked to high levels of oral health problems.

This nation urgently needs tighter rules, improved educational settings and stricter marketing regulations. Until then, families will continue engaging in an ongoing struggle 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 particular as I was compelled to move from an island in our chain of islands that was devastated by a severe cyclone last year. But it is also part of the harsh truth that is confronting parents in a area that is feeling the very worst effects of climate change.

“Conditions definitely worsens if a hurricane or volcano activity eliminates most of your plant life.”

Prior to the storm, as a food nutrition and health teacher, I was deeply concerned about the growing spread of quick-service eateries. Today, even community markets are involved in the change of a country once known for a diet of fresh regional fruits and vegetables, to one where greasy, salty, sugary fast food, loaded with manufactured additives, is the favorite.

But the situation definitely intensifies if a hurricane or geological event wipes out most of your produce. Unprocessed ingredients becomes scarce and prohibitively costly, so it is exceptionally hard to get your kids to eat right.

Regardless of having a regular work I wince at food prices now and have often opted for choosing between 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 very easy when you are juggling 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 manufactured munchies and sugary sodas. The consequence of these hurdles, I fear, is an growth in the already alarming levels of non-communicable illnesses such as blood sugar disorders and cardiovascular strain.

The Allure of Fast Food in Uganda

The symbol of a major fried chicken chain towers conspicuously at the entrance of a shopping center in a Kampala neighbourhood, tempting 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 inspired the founder to start one of the first American international food chains. 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 luxury. It is the place Kampala’s families go to mark 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 Christmas.

“Mom, 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 regional restaurant brand selling everything from fried breakfasts to burgers.

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