MAHA Report Reveals Alarming Stats

_WHAT’S HAPPENING_

The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission, chaired by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., released its first report this week, accusing food, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries of driving chronic disease in American children.

The document outlines how ultra-processed foods, environmental toxins, and overmedication are contributing to what the report calls “the sickest generation in American history.”

President Donald Trump, who established the commission in February, backed the findings at a White House event as his top officials declared that the public health system has been hijacked by the very industries it is supposed to regulate.

_THE FACTS_

• The MAHA commission includes Kennedy, the Secretaries of Education, Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, and more high-ranking administration officials.

• Their report claims 40 percent of American children now suffer from at least one chronic condition, including asthma, obesity, or behavioral disorders.

• Ultra-processed foods make up 70 percent of children’s caloric intake.

• The pharmaceutical industry spent $4.7 billion on federal lobbying between 1999 and 2018, more than any other industry.

• Antidepressant prescriptions for adolescents rose 1,400 percent between 1987 and 2014, and antipsychotic prescriptions increased 800 percent between 1993 and 2009.

• The report also notes that American children are prescribed ADHD medications at 2.5 times the rate of British children and 19 times that of Japanese youth.

• The chemical industry spent $77 million on federal lobbying in 2024, with 60 lobbyists having previously held federal positions.

• The report calls for more rigorous clinical trials for vaccines.

• The White House removed references to Monsanto, “forever chemicals,” and drug industry campaign donations from the final version of the report.

• Specific policy recommendations are expected to be announced in August.

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