WASHINGTON: US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has unveiled the Trump administration’s roadmap to tackle chronic disease while avoiding direct restrictions on ultra-processed foods or pesticides.
The plan calls for better nutrition, tighter scrutiny of medical advertising, and a new push to boost fertility without imposing concrete limits on food and agricultural industries.
Kennedy described chronic illness as an existential crisis for America during a Washington event where he released the long-awaited strategy.
President Donald Trump later signed a memorandum directing agencies to step up enforcement of existing rules on online pharmaceutical advertising to curb misleading claims.
Experts criticized the vague and voluntary nature of the Make Our Children Healthy Again strategy, which represents a follow-up to an initial assessment published last spring.
The new 20-page report highlights many of Kennedy’s signature causes including reviewing fluoride in drinking water and revisiting childhood vaccine schedules.
Many of these positions sit well outside mainstream medicine, particularly his controversial take on vaccines.
Other eye-catching ideas include a fertility education campaign reflecting right-wing anxieties over declining birth rates.
The first report was widely ridiculed after containing numerous fabricated citations apparently generated by AI tools.
Critics said the plan was thin on specifics even for areas that enjoy broad consensus like tackling America’s junk-food addiction.
One section calls for a government-wide definition of ultra-processed foods without specifying what regulatory actions should follow.
The report also says the government wants to boost breastfeeding rates, reduce animal testing, and promote innovation in the sunscreen market.
On pesticide use, the document evokes possible precision technology to decrease volumes while also calling for deregulation to bring products to market faster.
The Environmental Protection Agency is currently bringing a new wave of pesticides to market despite expert warnings about harmful forever chemicals.
Health activist Zen Honeycutt expressed disappointment at the minimal mention of pesticides but said she did not blame Kennedy personally.
The report’s push for higher birth rates conflicts with the EPA’s weakening of air-pollution standards which risks undermining fertility through contaminant exposure. – AFP
