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The menace of industrially manufactured edible products is truly global. Even though their use is particularly high in developed countries, forming more than half the average diet in places such as the United Kingdom and United States, for example, UPFs are replacing fresh food in diets on all corners of the globe.

This month, a comprehensive global study on the health threats of UPFs was issued. It warned that such foods are leaving millions of people to persistent health issues, and called for swift intervention. In a prior announcement, a major children's agency revealed that an increased count of kids around the world were overweight than too thin for the first time, as unhealthy snacks dominates diets, with the sharpest climbs in low- and middle-income countries.

A leading public health expert, professor of public health nutrition at the a prominent Brazilian university, and one of the study's contributors, says that profit-driven corporations, not consumer preferences, are fueling the shift in eating patterns.

For parents, it can seem as if the whole nutritional landscape is working against them. “On occasion it feels like we have absolutely no power over what we are putting on our children's meals,” says one mother from India. We interviewed her and four other parents from internationally on the increasing difficulties and annoyances of supplying a nutritious food regimen in the era of ultra-processing.

In Nepal: Battling a Child's Desire for Packaged Snacks

Bringing up a child in Nepal 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 instant my daughter steps outside, she is encircled by vibrantly wrapped snacks and sugary drinks. She continually yearns for cookies, chocolates and bottled fruit beverages – products intensively promoted to children. One solitary pizza commercial on TV is sufficient for her to ask, “Is it possible to eat pizza today?”

Even the school environment perpetuates unhealthy habits. Her cafeteria serves sugary juice every Tuesday, which she anxiously anticipates. She is given a packet of six cookies from a friend on the school bus and chocolates on birthdays, and confronts a chip shop 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 working in the Nepal Non-Communicable Disease Alliance and leading a project called Promoting Healthy Foods in Schools, I grasp this issue deeply. Yet even with my expertise, keeping my eight-year-old daughter healthy is incredibly difficult.

These repeated exposures at school, in transit and online make it almost unfeasible for parents to restrict ultra-processed foods. It is not just about what kids pick; it is about a food system that normalises and promotes unhealthy eating.

And the figures reflects exactly what families like mine are going through. 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 sugary drinks.

These numbers resonate with what I see every day. A study conducted in the district where I live reported that almost one in five of schoolchildren were carrying excess weight and more than seven percent were obese, figures directly linked with the rise in junk food consumption and less active lifestyles. Further research showed that many Nepali children eat candy or processed savoury foods nearly every day, and this regular consumption is linked to high levels of dental cavities.

This nation urgently needs stronger policies, healthier school environments and stricter marketing regulations. Before that happens, families will continue fighting a daily battle against unhealthy snacks – a single cookie pack at a time.

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

My circumstances is a bit unique as I was compelled to move from an island in our archipelago that was ravaged by a severe cyclone last year. But it is also part of the harsh truth that is confronting parents in a area that is experiencing the gravest consequences of environmental shifts.

“Conditions definitely becomes more severe if a storm or volcano activity destroys most of your crops.”

Before the occurrence of the storm, as a food nutrition and health teacher, I was very worried about the growing spread of quick-service eateries. Today, even smaller village shops are involved in the transformation of a country once defined by a diet of healthy locally grown fruits and vegetables, to one where greasy, salty, sugary fast food, loaded with artificial ingredients, is the preference.

But the scenario definitely worsens if a natural disaster or volcanic eruption decimates most of your vegetation. Fresh, healthy food becomes hard to find and extremely pricey, so it is incredibly challenging to get your kids to eat right.

In spite of having a stable employment I wince at food prices now and have often turned to selecting from items such as peas and beans and meat and eggs when feeding my four children. Providing less food or diminished quantities 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 little money to buy snacks at school. Sadly, most school tuck shops only offer manufactured munchies and sweet fizzy drinks. The consequence of these hurdles, I fear, is an growth in the already alarming levels of chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

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

The logo of a major fried chicken chain stands prominently at the entrance of a mall in a Kampala neighbourhood, tempting you to pass by without stopping at the takeaway window.

Many of the youngsters and guardians visiting the mall have never traveled past the borders of Uganda. They certainly don’t know about the bygone era of hardship that led the founder to start one of the first worldwide restaurant networks. All they know is that the three letters represent all things sophisticated.

Throughout commercial complexes and every market, there is quick-service cuisine for every pocket. As one of the more expensive options, the fried chicken chain is considered a treat. It is the place Kampala’s families go to mark birthdays and baptisms. It is the children’s reward when they get a positive academic results. In fact, they are hoping their parents take them there for the holidays.

“Mom, 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|