The Make America Healthy Again Commission released a report detailing more than 120 initiatives to reform children’s health in the wake of the nation’s childhood chronic disease epidemic.
“The Trump Administration is mobilizing every part of government to confront the childhood chronic disease epidemic,” HHS Secretary Kennedy said of the report. “This strategy represents the most sweeping reform agenda in modern history—realigning our food and health systems, driving education, and unleashing science to protect America’s children and families. We are ending the corporate capture of public health, restoring transparency, and putting gold-standard science—not special interests—at the center of every decision.”
According to the report, the four areas impacting the children’s health crisis are poor diet, chemical exposure, lack of physical activity and stress, and overmedicalization. Over 60% of children’s diets come from highly processed foods. Children are also being exposed to an “increasing number of synthetic chemicals, some of which have been linked to developmental issues and chronic disease,” the report said, noting the nation’s younger generations are also “experiencing unprecedented levels of inactivity, screen use, sleep deprivation, and chronic stress.”
Several key areas of the MAHA strategy include increasing public awareness and education, working with the private sector, restoring science, and taking executive action, such as improving food labeling, raising infant formula standards, removing chemicals from the U.S. food supply, reforming Medicaid quality metrics, and enforcing direct-to-consumer drug advertising laws.
A MAHA Commission report released in May described the declining health among the country’s youth. “Today’s children are the sickest generation in American history in terms of chronic disease and these preventable trends continue to worsen each year, posing a threat to our nation’s health, economy, and military readiness,” the document read.
“America will begin reversing the childhood chronic disease crisis during this administration by getting to the truth of why we are getting sick and spurring pro-growth policies and innovation to reverse these trends,” it declared.
