The Make America Healthy Again Commission, led by Kennedy, identified four potential drivers behind rising rates of chronic disease among children, including poor diet, chemical exposure, lack of physical activity and chronic stress, as well as “overmedicalization” – which the commission describes as “a concerning trend of overprescribing medications to children.”
The report has drawn mixed reactions from researchers and advocates working in public health, who note that its goals stand at odds with other recent Trump administration moves. Those include funding cuts to food assistance, Medicaid programs, and scientific research, as well as Secretary Kennedy’s push for changes in vaccine policy ….
All told, the report contains 128 proposals, covering research, policy changes and regulation, public awareness campaigns and suggestions for public-private partnerships.
But [Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, a pediatrician and professor at Boston College] says it fails to present “any kind of comprehensive blueprint for improving the health of American children.”
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“Overall, I would describe the report as presenting a very uneven, poorly conceived, disjointed hodgepodge of recommendations that reflect Secretary Kennedy’s preoccupations and little else,” he says.
