The Trump administration on Thursday released a long-awaited report exploring the scope and causes of chronic diseases in American children, the first major milestone in Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” commission established by President Donald Trump in a Feb. 13 executive order.
The 69-page document identifies several potential causes for what’s described as the “stark reality of American children’s declining health,” pointing to widespread consumption of ultra-processed foods, increased exposure to toxic chemicals, a lack of physical activity couple with increased stress, and so-called “overmedicalization” as key drivers.
The report frames itself as a call to action over what it calls “the stark reality of American children’s declining health.” The White House views it as a ‘historic’ ‘first of its kind’ assessment using available research.
“it was a collaborative effort of all the agencies and the White House, and it represents a consensus that probably the strongest and most radical consensus by a government agency in history about the state of America's health, it is very strong, it's very frank, and it is a clarion call to do something with utmost urgency to end this crisis, and that's what we wanted,” said HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
What's in the report?
The report identifies four potential factors behind what it describes as a rise in childhood chronic diseases including poor diet, aggregation of environmental chemicals, lack of physical activity and chronic stress and overmedicalization.
The report also alleges ‘pediatric overtreatment’ as it focuses on the use of prescriptions for children, including those for ADHD, antidepressants, antipsychotics, and antibiotics, asthma and GLP-1 drug.
The report also suggests further studies of vaccines.
It particularly suggests ‘limited scientific inquiry into the links between vaccines and chronic disease, the impacts of vaccine injury, and conflicts of interest in the development of the vaccine schedule."
"After a century of costly and ineffective approaches, the federal government will lead a coordinated transformation of our food, health, and scientific systems,” the report states. “This strategic realignment will ensure that all Americans—today and in the future—live longer, healthier lives, supported by systems that prioritize prevention, wellbeing, and resilience.”
What about solutions?
Thursday’s document stopped short of offering any concrete solutions to improve children’s health. In a call with reporters ahead of its release, Kennedy said the commission would work on a “follow-up report” over the next 100 days complete with policy prescriptions.
“The next stage of this process is to come up with policy recommendations for the President, and then we'll spend the next four years implementing those policy recommendations,” he said.
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But the report paints a bleak portrait America’s youth, describing them as “the sickest generation in American history.” It points to significant increases in childhood obesity, diabetes, cancer and mental health problems, suggesting policymakers have devoted too much time and money on medical treatments to such issues and too little on research into ways to prevent them. It also calls out corporate influence in environmental and epidemiological studies, as well as the significant role corporate lobbyists play in crafting federal legislation.
But some of the leading causes of youth health issues received little mention in Thursday’s report, among them alcohol and tobacco abuse. And gun violence – the leading cause of death for American adolescents – received no mention.
Dr. Martin Makary, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner who serves on the MAHA commission, said Americans shouldn’t read into those omissions.
“There are hundreds, literally hundreds, of health issues in the United States, and those are important issues, the issues that you mentioned,” Makary told Scripps News in an interview. “This Make America Healthy Again report focused on some of the giant blind spots in American medicine.”
Report draws new criticism
Some Democrats, former government health officials and outside medical experts were quick to criticize the MAHA report, suggesting its claims lacked scientific backing and officials cherry-picked data to support existing conclusions.
“Where is the science behind some of what they're saying, especially the dangerous, the unsubstantiated claims?” former Health Secretary Xavier Becerra posed to Scripps News in an interview. “To just cherry pick, and pick those [studies] that sort of support what you're trying to say, that's not science.”
“People like Bobby Kenny JR and [Director of National Intelligence] Tulsi Gabbard don't just overlook it, they dispute science,” echoed Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO). “We need leaders who actually understand the importance of leverage science to leverage us into the future.”
Other critics highlighted alleged contradictions between the Trump administration’s rhetoric concerning health care and the actions its leaders have taken. They pointed to the tens of thousands of federal health workers laid off amidst efforts to trim the government by the “Department of Government Efficiency,” as well as efforts to eliminate or relax environmental regulations despite the report’s findings that some chemicals used in agriculture and industry could be contributing to declining health outcomes.
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The report includes environmental concerns
Indeed, shortly after the release of the MAHA report, the Republican-led Senate voted to overturn a California program, approved during former President Joe Biden’s administration, that sought to reduce tailpipe emissions from medium and heavy-duty vehicles as well as limit smog pollution from trucks.
“We won’t stand by as Trump Republicans make America smoggy again — undoing work that goes back to the days of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan — all while ceding our economic future to China,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a news conference following the vote. “We’re going to fight this unconstitutional attack on California in court.”
Environmental Protections Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, who serves on the MAHA commission, pushed back on the notion that the administration’s efforts to loosen environmental regulations was impacting health.
“That's an unfortunate inaccuracy,” he chided a reporter who asked about EPA’s deregulatory actions.
“Here at the Trump EPA, we choose to both protect the environment and grow the economy. It's not a binary choice,” Zeldin said.
A focus on medication and vaccines
Most concerning to some MAHA critics was the report’s criticism of children’s “overmedication.” The document decried the increase in prescriptions for medications to treat ADHD, asthma and weight loss, as well as the widespread use of antibiotics and antidepressants, going on to highlight the growth of the childhood vaccine schedule.
“Despite the growth of the childhood vaccine schedule, there has been limited scientific inquiry into the links between vaccines and chronic disease, the impacts of vaccine injury, and conflicts of interest in the development of the vaccine schedule,” the report reads.
Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic with a history of sharing false information about the safety and efficacy of vaccines, has long faced criticisms from Democrats and the medical community for his views.
“Before you start to try to dissuade the public from getting their kids or themselves vaccinated, show us the science that says that there may be some real risk in doing so,” Becerra said. “Vaccines save lives... these are just unsubstantiated claims that could become very dangerous if the public believe that the agency, the Health Agency, and the leader for healthcare, is saying, ‘watch out.’”
But Tony Lyons, co-president of the newly-formed MAHA Insitute — an outside group supporting RFK and the “MAHA movement” — defended the report and its suggestions.
“[Kennedy Jr.] doesn't want to take anything from anybody,” Lyons told Scripps News. “He's not going to take people's vaccines from them. He's not going to take their drugs from them. He wants to give them more information so that they can make better decisions for themselves.”
