Food choices are shaped by availability, affordability, and marketing — not just willpower. Modern food systems prioritise shelf life and profit, often at the expense of nutritional quality.

Ultra-processed foods are linked to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers.

How food systems drive disease

• High sugar and refined carbohydrate exposure
• Excess salt and unhealthy fats
• Portion distortion
• Aggressive marketing

Why individual advice is not enough

Without supportive environments, behaviour change is difficult to sustain.

Bottom line: Food-related disease is a system problem, not a personal failure.