‘One Bite and He Was Hooked’: From Kenya to Nepal, How Parents Are Battling Ultra-Processed Foods

T scourge of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) is an international crisis. Even though their use is notably greater in the west, making up over 50% the usual nourishment in places such as the United Kingdom and United States, for example, UPFs are taking the place of fresh food in diets on all corners of the globe.

In the latest development, the world’s largest review on the dangers to well-being of UPFs was published. It cautioned that such foods are exposing millions of people to long-term harm, and demanded immediate measures. Previously in the year, a global fund for children revealed that more children around the world were obese than malnourished for the first time, as unhealthy snacks dominates diets, with the most dramatic increases in developing nations.

A leading public health expert, an academic specializing in dietary health at the a major educational institution in Brazil, and one of the study's contributors, says that profit-driven corporations, not consumer preferences, are driving the transformation in dietary behavior.

For parents, it can seem as if the entire food system is working against them. “At times it feels like we have no authority over what we are putting on our children's meals,” says one mother from India. We conversed with her and four other parents from around the world on the increasing difficulties and frustrations of supplying a healthy diet in the era of ultra-processing.

The Situation in Nepal: A Constant Craving for Sweets

Raising a child in this South Asian country today often feels like battling an uphill struggle, especially when it comes to food. I prepare meals at home as much as I can, but the instant my daughter steps outside, she is encircled by colorfully presented snacks and sugary drinks. She constantly craves cookies, chocolates and bottled fruit beverages – products aggressively advertised to children. One solitary pizza commercial on TV is sufficient for her to ask, “Are we getting pizza today?”

Even the school environment perpetuates unhealthy habits. Her cafeteria serves flavored drink 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 snack bar right outside her school gate.

Some days it feels like the complete dietary landscape is undermining parents who are simply trying to raise fit youngsters.

As someone working in the Nepal Non-Communicable Disease Alliance and spearheading a project called Advocating for Better School Diets, I comprehend this issue profoundly. Yet even with my expertise, keeping my eight-year-old daughter healthy is exceptionally hard.

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 nutritional framework that makes standard and promotes unhealthy eating.

And the figures mirrors precisely what households such as my own are facing. A demographic health study found that 69% of children between six and 23 months ate unhealthy foods, and nearly half were already drinking sweetened beverages.

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 overweight and more than seven percent were suffering from obesity, figures strongly correlated with the rise in unhealthy snacking and more sedentary lifestyles. Additional analysis showed that many Nepali children eat sweet snacks or manufactured savory snacks almost daily, and this frequent intake is associated with high levels of dental cavities.

Nepal urgently needs more robust regulations, improved educational settings and tougher advertising controls. Until then, families will continue waging a constant war against junk food – one biscuit packet at a time.

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

My circumstances is a bit particular as I was compelled to move from an island in our chain of islands 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 enduring the most severe impacts of climate change.

“The situation definitely deteriorates if a storm or mountain explosion wipes out most of your plant life.”

Before the occurrence of the storm, as a food nutrition and health teacher, I was very worried about the increasing proliferation of convenience food outlets. Currently, even local corner stores are involved in the shift of a country once defined by a diet of healthy locally grown fruits and vegetables, to one where oily, salted, sweetened fast food, loaded with artificial ingredients, is the favorite.

But the situation definitely intensifies if a severe weather event or geological event destroys most of your crops. Unprocessed ingredients becomes scarce and prohibitively costly, so it is incredibly challenging to get your kids to have a proper diet.

In spite of having a regular work I wince at food prices now and have often opted for choosing between items such as peas and beans and meat and eggs when feeding my four children. Offering reduced portions or smaller servings have also become part of the post-crisis adaptation techniques.

Also it is rather simple when you are balancing a stressful occupation with parenting, and scrambling in the morning, to just give the children a small amount of cash to buy snacks at school. Sadly, most educational snack bars only offer highly packaged treats and carbonated beverages. The result of these hurdles, I fear, is an growth in the already epidemic rates of non-communicable illnesses such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

Kampala's Landscape: A Fast-Food Dominated Environment

The symbol of a major fried chicken chain towers conspicuously at the entrance of a commercial complex 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 gone beyond the borders of this East African nation. They certainly don’t know about the past financial depression that led the founder to start one of the first worldwide restaurant networks. All they know is that the brand name represent all things sophisticated.

At each shopping center and all local bazaars, there is convenience meals 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 celebrate 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.

“Mum, 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 regional restaurant brand selling everything from cooked morning dishes to burgers.

It is the weekend, and I am only {half-listening|