A new Making America Healthy Again report from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his department blames childhood chronic disease on ultra-processed foods, chronic stress, over-prescribing of medications and environmental chemicals.
“There’s something wrong, and we will not stop until we defeat the chronic disease epidemic,” President Donald Trump said Thursday at an event unveiling the report, “and America, we’re going to get it done.”
In spite of the wide-ranging and alarming claims of the report, so far, the second Trump administration has taken a variety of steps that experts say will make Americans less healthy. Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” would make millions of people lose their health insurance to help offset tax cuts, and the administration has tried to slash billions of dollars in public health spending as well as grants for scientific research.
The 69-page report also claims that more than 40% of American children have at least one chronic health condition, childhood cancer rates have soared, over 20% of children are obese and one in 31 children have autism.
Trump spoke about the rise in autism diagnoses, claiming without evidence, “It has to be artificially induced, it has to be.” Kennedy, who was sitting next to Trump during the MAHA event, has been at the forefront of pushing autism conspiracy theories for years. Kennedy has repeatedly falsely said that vaccines cause autism, and in April, he said he would identify the “environmental toxin” he believes causes autism. Autism rates have grown in years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but health officials largely attribute that to more people getting diagnosed, not more people developing autism.
The MAHA report devotes an entire section to vaccines, writing that since 1986, children have had to get more vaccines than ever before and that parents “should be fully informed of the benefits and risks of vaccines.” The report also calls for more clinical studies on vaccines.
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The report also calls out ultra-processed foods, claiming they are “damaging the health of American children.” Trump was met with applause from the MAHA event’s audience after he said that the administration is “phasing out eight of the most common artificial food dyes,” adding that he ended “conflicts” at the Food and Drug Administration. In April, Trump’s administration fired several FDA workers.
The report also claims that government-funded food programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, are to blame for children’s bad eating 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 chemicals are also to blame for children’s poor health, the report claims, like PFAS, which are a group of synthetic chemicals used in nonstick cookware and food packaging; microplastics,and high levels of fluoride in water, which the report claims led to lower IQs in children.
The report also claims that electronic devices have led to loneliness, chronic 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 event, Trump ended by congratulating the “entire MAHA movement” before Kennedy praised Trump in return. Kennedy called 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 said.
