The dining room of the Vancouver Children’s Hospital is surprisingly bright for a basement space. I’m watching 8-year-old Liam push his lunch around a plastic plate – chicken nuggets, fries, and a small cup of applesauce. His mother, Diane Wright, sighs beside me.
“It feels like a losing battle,” she says quietly. “Even here, in a hospital, look what they’re serving kids.”
Liam was admitted three days ago for asthma complications, but his medical chart reveals a more complex story: chronic inflammation, early signs of insulin resistance, and persistent allergies. He’s part of a troubling trend that pediatricians across Canada are witnessing firsthand – children whose health problems appear increasingly linked to what they eat.
A landmark report released last month by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (MAHA) has drawn renewed attention to this crisis. The comprehensive analysis examined how ultraprocessed foods impact children’s health, presenting evidence that should concern parents, health professionals, and policymakers alike.
“What makes this report significant is how clearly it connects the dots between specific food products and measurable health outcomes,” explains Dr. Sarah Mehta, a pediatric endocrinologist at BC Children’s Hospital. “We’re seeing more young patients with adult-type health problems, and diet is often at the center.”
The MAHA report defines ultraprocessed foods as industrial formulations containing substances not typically used in cooking – including colors, flavors, sweeteners and emulsifiers – that undergo extensive processing before reaching consumers. These products make up approximately 67% of children’s diets in North America, according to research published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Walking through grocery store aisles earlier this week, I counted ingredients on popular children’s food products. One breakfast cereal marketed as “whole grain” contained 17 ingredients, including four types of added sugars and multiple additives. A “fruit snack” had no actual fruit but listed corn syrup as its first ingredient.
These aren’t anomalies. They represent a food environment where the most accessible, affordable, and heavily marketed products are often the most highly processed.
The consequences are becoming impossible to ignore. The MAHA report highlights multiple health concerns linked to ultraprocessed food consumption in children, including:
Increased risk of obesity and metabolic disorders
Higher rates of cardiovascular risk factors, even in young children
Disruptions to gut microbiome development
Impacts on mental health, including depression and anxiety
Potential developmental effects on growing brains
For Melissa Cardinal, an Indigenous food sovereignty advocate from Saddle Lake Cree Nation who now lives in East Vancouver, the findings resonate deeply. “When we talk about food as medicine in Indigenous communities, we’re recognizing what science is now confirming – that processed foods are making our children sick,” she tells me while preparing a traditional feast at an urban Indigenous youth center.
Cardinal works with families to reconnect with traditional food practices. “Before colonization, type 2 diabetes was virtually unknown among Indigenous peoples. Now our children develop it before they’re teenagers. That’s not coincidence – it’s directly related to the displacement of traditional foods by processed ones.”
The mechanisms behind these health impacts are multifaceted. Dr. Elena Santos, food scientist at the University of British Columbia, explains that ultraprocessed foods can trigger inflammation, disrupt hunger-fullness signals, and alter metabolism.
“These products are designed to be hyperpalatable – to override our natural satiety cues,” Santos says. “They deliver concentrated doses of sugar, salt, and fat in combinations that don’t exist in nature, along with additives whose long-term effects, especially in combination, aren’t fully understood.”
What makes addressing this issue particularly challenging is the uneven distribution of ultraprocessed foods across socioeconomic lines. In neighborhoods like Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, I observed corner stores stocked primarily with packaged snacks and sugary drinks, while fresh produce remained scarce and expensive.
“Food insecurity and ultraprocessed food consumption go hand in hand,” explains Tara Clements, dietitian with Vancouver Coastal Health. “When families are struggling financially, the cheapest calories often come in the most processed forms. A box of macaroni and cheese costs less than a head of broccoli and lasts longer.”
The MAHA report acknowledges this reality, noting that ultraprocessed foods are disproportionately marketed and available in lower-income communities. Companies spend billions annually targeting children with advertising, with particular emphasis on racialized and marginalized youth.
Back at the hospital, Diane Wright understands these pressures intimately. As a single mother working two jobs, she struggles to provide fresh, minimally processed meals.
“I know what we should be eating, but between work, school, activities, and cost – convenience wins more often than I’d like to admit,” she says. “Then I feel guilty when Liam gets sick, wondering if I could have prevented it somehow.”
Dr. Mehta emphasizes that this burden shouldn’t fall solely on parents. “We need systemic solutions to what is essentially a public health crisis,” she says. “Individual choices matter, but they’re constrained by larger forces – agricultural policies, food marketing regulations, school food programs, and economic factors.”
Some communities are finding innovative approaches. At Grandview Elementary in East Vancouver, I visited a school garden program where children grow vegetables they later prepare in cooking classes. Principal Eleanor Wong notes improvements in students’ food preferences and overall health since implementing the program.
“Children who participate are more willing to try vegetables, bring healthier lunches, and report fewer stomach complaints,” Wong says. “But programs like ours require resources that many schools lack.”
The MAHA report concludes with recommendations that include stricter regulation of food marketing to children, improved nutritional standards for school meals, and better front-of-package labeling to help consumers identify ultraprocessed products.
Canada has made some progress with its recent front-of-package nutrition symbol requirements for foods high in saturated fat, sugars, and sodium. However, critics note the regulations contain numerous exemptions and don’t specifically address ultraprocessed foods.
As I leave the hospital, Diane and Liam are reviewing discharge instructions. Their pediatrician has recommended dietary changes as part of Liam’s treatment plan, but Diane looks overwhelmed.
“Where do we even start?” she asks.
It’s a question that resonates beyond this hospital room – one that requires answers not just from individual families but from our educational systems, healthcare providers, policymakers, and food industry leaders.
The evidence is mounting that our children’s health depends on finding those answers soon.
