Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fingered four potential causes of childhood chronic disease in a bombshell report released Thursday — the first step in the Trump administration’s bid to reverse what it calls a health “crisis” impacting 40% of America’s kids.
The report identified poor diet, environmental chemicals, lack of physical activity and chronic stress, and overmedicalization as likely responsible for persistent maladies — including obesity, autism, cancer, mental health issues and allergies — warning: “The health of American children is in crisis.”
The report also calls for further inquiry into the link between vaccines and chronic diseases — saying there has been “limited scientific inquiry” into the issue.
The research will be used to create police recommendations by August of 2025, which will be presented to President Trump.
“President Trump wants every child in America to grow up and to live a long and healthy life,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters of the “historic” assessment.
Poor diet
The report cites “ultra processed foods” (UPFs) as among the most likely causes of the chronic disease crisis.
While they may have been created with a good purpose in mind, the commission writes, 70% of the diets of American children are currently made up of high-caloric, low-nutrient foods.
The problematic ingredients, per the report, are engineered ultra-processed grains, sugars and fats, which largely didn’t exist a century ago. UPFs are defined as being made up of ingredients that are not naturally found in kitchens — like dyes, flavoring and non-sugar sweeteners — and sold in ready-to-eat packaging.
Additives of particular concern include red 40, a commonly used dye associated with behavioral problems in children; Titanium Dioxide, which could lead to DNA damage; Propylabaren, a widely used preservative thought to cause hormonal disruptions; and artificial sweeteners, which have been linked to obesity and metabolic issues, the report states.
UPFs make up 50% of all Americans’ diets, the report states, while making up just 10% to 31% of the intake in countries like Portugal, Italy and France.
The commission argues the US needs to do away with UFPs and promote natural products made in the USA.
“Farmers are the backbone of America – and the most innovative and productive in the world,” the commission writes. “We continue to feed the world as the largest food exporter. The greatest step the United States can take to reverse childhood chronic disease is to put whole foods produced by American farmers and ranchers at the center of healthcare.”
The report also targets government programs like school lunches and food stamps, and notes that other countries provide incentives for consumers to choose nutritious domestic products over UPFs.
Chemicals in the environment
The report also cites unnatural substances in the air, land and sea as potential causes of chronic disease, especially in children — who are described as more susceptible due to potential impacts in utero.
Children are more likely to come into contact with household dust, put their hands and mouths on objects and touch floors covered in harmful chemicals.
The report states dangerous chemicals are present in items including heavy metals, pesticides, microplastics, cleaning products and cosmetics, nonstick cookware, and the water system — in the case of flouride.
The report also warns of electromagnetic radiation from technology including mobile phones and laptop computers and cites one study that claims incidents of microplastics in American brain tissue rose by 50% between 2016 and 2024.
One potential solution to identifying harmful chemicals in the atmosphere could be developed through AI, the commission argues.
“The great challenge of the next decade is for government and industry around the world to understand the impacts of the cumulative chemical exposure that a child faces,” the report reads. “This presents an opportunity for American technologic innovation to develop new risk evaluation tools and to promote solutions.”
Farmers, who rely on some of the chemicals cited to grow their crops, should work with the government on making healthy and affordable products.
Decline in exercise
Children being more sedentary in the digital age also could lead to chronic disease through lack of exercise and limited time outside, the report states.
A 2020 statement from the American Heart Association found that 60% of 12 to 15 year olds don’t have healthy cardiovascular fitness, the report notes — and more than 70% of children aged 6-17 didn’t meet the recommended 2024 federal requirement for daily exercise.
Children are less likely to play, ride their bike to school, engage in games at recess and exercise in general, choosing to spend time on the internet instead.
The higher access to screens — with nearly 50% of teens reporting that they are constantly online — also contributes to mental health issues as well as loneliness, lack of sleep and chronic stress, per the report.
The report hints that there should be further inquiry into how online platforms push certain content towards children.
Overmedicalization
The commission states that corporate interests and “misaligned” incentives lead to children being overdiagnosed and put on medication when other remedies could be sought — specifically mentioning that the American people deserve to know more about vaccines.
“In recent decades, American children have, as a product of these misaligned incentives, been subject to an unprecedented period of over-prescription driven, in large part, by corporate influence, with demonstrable consequences for their health.”
The report also states that “vaccines benefit children by protecting them from infectious diseases. But, as with any medicine, vaccines can have side effects that must be balanced against their benefits. Parents should be fully informed of the benefits and risks of vaccines.”
One in five US children are reported to take prescription medications, including for ADHD, antidepressants, antibiotics and more.
The report slams the overprescription of such drugs without a full examination of environmental factors first.
Thursday’s report was released by the Make America Healthy Again Commission, which President Trump established via executive order in February to look into the potential causes of chronic disease and offer policy recommendations based on their findings.
The commission is headed by Kennedy and includes Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, among others.
The next steps listed at the conclusion suggest the National Institutes of Health confront the replication crisis, call for the NIH and FDA “build systems monitoring of pediatric drugs,” expand autism data records, create a task force to apply AI to early detection datasets, and create a national lifestyle initiative that creates randomized trials with limited health interventions.
