A new report from the Make America Healthy Again Commission, or MAHA, laid out a broad strategy for improving the health of American children. The report laid out four possible causes for childhood chronic disease and more than 100 plans for research and further investigation.
It follows an earlier report released in May.
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Improving children’s health
The new report calls out “poor diet,” “chemical exposure,” “lack of physical activity and chronic stress,” and “overmedicalization” as the four drivers behind childhood chronic disease with the clearest opportunity for progress.
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. briefly explained how each factor may contribute to childhood health issues.
“It was a laundry list of problems,” Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told Straight Arrow News. “What you didn’t see was a clear statement of the problem, nor did you see a clear statement about how one was going to approach that problem and then what were going to be the criteria to determine whether or not that approach was successful.”
Offit said this report doesn’t go nearly far enough.
“If this were an NIH (National Institutes of Health) grant, it would be sent back as incomplete,” Offit said.
Offit said he’d like to see a more detailed plan on how to actually make America healthier.
“If one believes, as RFK Jr. does, that America is, quote, ‘sicker than ever before,’ he should define exactly what he means by that,” Offit said. “In other words, in what way are we sicker than ever before? And then, list it in a hierarchical manner of what are the most to least impactful ways in which we are sicker than ever before, and how he plans to approach that.”
In the opening paragraph, the authors say the report “outlines a strategic approach for executive actions” to address several identified issues.
Advancing research?
The report lays out plans to advance critical research, including from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The plan is to launch a “Whole-Person-Health approach” to chronic disease prevention.
That announcement comes following the Trump administration’s announcement of billions of dollars in cuts to NIH research grants that the White House said were tied to diversity, equity and inclusion.
The report also includes proposals Kennedy has previously announced, including updating the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, defining ultra-processed foods and pressing companies to drop food dyes.
“There’s a study done by Kevin Hall at NIH showing that you’re more likely to consume more calories and gain more weight if you eat ultra-processed foods as compared to non-ultra-processed foods,” Offit said. “Fine. Okay, great. What’s the plan? That’s a lot easier said than done. I mean, taking red dye out of Froot Loops isn’t going to make us healthier.”
Vaccinations
Kennedy is a well-known skeptic regarding the efficacy of vaccinations, and the report indicates that HHS will collaborate with NIH to investigate vaccine injuries.
The report also lays out a new vaccine framework that plans to ensure America has the best childhood vaccine schedule, modernize vaccines and more.
“I think right now, certainly, with RFK Jr.’s war on vaccines, we’re less healthy,” Offit said. “We have a measles outbreak epidemic we haven’t seen in more than three decades. We have more children who’ve died this year from flu than have died since 2009 during the swine flu pandemic.”
Pesticides
Many critics of this latest report point out that it stops short of restrictions on pesticide use.
The May report pointed out potential harms of chemical exposure and listed a range of chemicals used on farms to kill pests and weeds.
This new report calls for little changes to the regulations of pesticides and more for an evaluation of current regulations.
“The research and programs should emphasize ways in which precision technology can help to decrease pesticide volumes, improve the soil microbiome, and have a significant financial benefit for growers,” the report reads.
The strategy also calls for research into consumers’ chemical exposure levels.
That falls in line with much of the rest of the report, calling for more research.
