A child wakes up and eats a bowl of breakfast cereal (a third of which is sugar); on their way to school they pass giant signs for fast-food outlets; the school tuck shop sells biscuits and sugar-laden juices; on the way home they pass shops selling sweets and fried snacks; at home they watch TV and are bombarded with junk food adverts; at dinner time their tired working parents pick up a ready meal.
This is a typical daily scenario for tens of millions of families around the world, not because parents do not care about their children’s health, but because the world is so saturated with ultra-processed foods (UPF). Even “healthy” snacks for babies often have high levels of salt, sugar and additives.
From Uganda to Nepal, parents we spoke to all told us the same thing: that trying to provide a healthy diet for their children is an uphill struggle. Even parents who are acutely aware of the multiple harms of UPFs feel the food environment is working against them.
Rising levels of childhood obesity – which is increasing fastest in low- and middle-income countries – are being driven by profit-hungry multinational corporations that push cheap foods deliberately designed to make us want more. People living in poverty, or regions where climate disasters have made growing fresh food almost impossible, have even less choice when it comes to what they put on their table.
The solution is not to berate individuals but to legislate to control the production, marketing and consumption of UPFs.
A recent Lancet series described UPFs as a “seismic threat”. Such a threat requires radical action. When governments act, change happens – just look at Australia, which has become the first country in the world to ban social media for children under 16. It is a drastic move but one that other countries are looking to follow. Governments cannot ban UPFs outright but there is much more that they could be doing.
What do you think? We want to hear from other parents about the frustrations and challenges of feeding children in the age of UPFs, and what you think should be done about it. Click here to share your comments.
Isabel Choat is commissioning editor, Global development
Photograph: China News Service/Getty Images
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