A brand new Making America Wholesome Once more report from Health and Human Companies Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his division blames childhood continual illness on ultra-processed meals, continual stress, over-prescribing of medicines and environmental chemical compounds.
“There’s something wrong, and we will not stop until we defeat the chronic disease epidemic,” President Donald Trump stated Thursday at an occasion unveiling the report, “and America, we’re going to get it done.”
Despite the wide-ranging and alarming claims of the report, to this point, the second Trump administration has taken a wide range of steps that specialists say will make People much less wholesome. Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” would make thousands and thousands of individuals lose their medical insurance to assist offset tax cuts, and the administration has tried to slash billions of {dollars} in public well being spending in addition to grants for scientific analysis.
The 69-page report additionally claims that greater than 40% of American youngsters have at the least one continual well being situation, childhood most cancers charges have soared, over 20% of youngsters are overweight and one in 31 youngsters have autism.
Trump spoke in regards to the rise in autism diagnoses, claiming with out proof, “It has to be artificially induced, it has to be.” Kennedy, who was sitting subsequent to Trump through the MAHA occasion, has been on the forefront of pushing autism conspiracy theories for years. Kennedy has repeatedly falsely stated that vaccines trigger autism, and in April, he stated he would establish the “environmental toxin” he believes causes autism. Autism charges have grown in years, in response to the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, however well being officers largely attribute that to extra folks getting identified, no more folks creating autism.
The MAHA report devotes a complete part to vaccines, writing that since 1986, youngsters have needed to get extra vaccines than ever earlier than and that folks “should be fully informed of the benefits and risks of vaccines.” The report additionally requires extra scientific research on vaccines.
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The report additionally calls out ultra-processed meals, claiming they’re “damaging the health of American children.” Trump was met with applause from the MAHA occasion’s viewers after he stated that the administration is “phasing out eight of the most common artificial food dyes,” including that he ended “conflicts” on the Meals and Drug Administration. In April, Trump’s administration fired a number of FDA staff.
The report additionally claims that government-funded meals packages, just like the Supplemental Diet Help Program, or SNAP, are guilty for kids’s dangerous consuming habits.
“Children receiving SNAP benefits are more likely to consume greater quantities of sugar-sweetened beverages and processed meats compared to income-eligible nonrecipients,” the report claims.
Environmental chemical compounds are additionally guilty for kids’s poor well being, the report claims, like PFAS, that are a bunch of artificial chemical compounds utilized in nonstick cookware and meals packaging; microplastics,and excessive ranges of fluoride in water, which the report claims led to decrease IQs in youngsters.
The report additionally claims that digital gadgets have led to loneliness, continual stress and sleep deprivation.
“Parallel to the decline in physical activity American youth face deepening psychosocial crisis. This is marked by rising mental health disorders significant sleep deficits chronic stress and pervasive loneliness all exacerbated by the widespread influence of technology,” the report reads.
At Thursday’s occasion, Trump ended by congratulating the “entire MAHA movement” earlier than Kennedy praised Trump in return. Kennedy known as the MAHA report a “call to action for common sense.”
“We’ve relied too much on conflicting research, ignored common sense, or what some would call mother’s intuition,” Kennedy stated.
