FDA Commissioner Says MAHA Report will Help Address Chronic Illnesses Among Children
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said over the weekend that the newly released “Make America Healthy Again” report will trigger a significant transformation in the US healthcare system, shifting it from a “reactionary” mindset to one that is more “proactive.”
Speaking during an interview on Fox News Sunday, Makary emphasized the need to focus less on medical treatments and more on root causes of chronic diseases in children, such as poor nutrition and environmental toxins.
“Scientists have been waving the flag for years, saying you have got to look at this body of scientific data,” Makaray said. “And the modern medical establishment really has been disconnected. We have been so busy focusing on treatment, on billing and coding in a high-throughput model.”
Makary questioned the current reliance on medications, including drugs like Ozempic, over preventive health strategies. “We have got to stop and ask ourselves, should we be focusing more on school lunch programs, not just putting every kid on Ozempic?” he said. “We have got to talk about food as medicine and gut health and the microbiome. We have got to talk about environmental toxins that cause cancer, not just the chemo to treat it.”
He added, “Maybe we need to treat more diabetes with cooking classes, not just throwing insulin at people. This report is a fresh new approach that really calls for a transformation of our health care system from a reactionary system to a proactive system.”
The 68-page report released earlier this month outlines the growing threat of chronic illness in children and contributors such as ultra-processed foods, environmental toxins, physical inactivity, and an overreliance on medications. It also warned that children are being “exposed to an increasing number of synthetic chemicals, some of which have been linked to developmental issues and chronic disease.”
“There are no sacred cows. It talks about 70% of the diet being ultra-processed. It talks about pesticides, microplastics, natural light exposure in children, sleep quality,” Makary explained.
Makary also stressed that the findings came from a “purely independent scientific report on the state of health in America.”
“When you have 40% of our nation’s children with a chronic disease, that portends for a very expensive future health care system,” he said. “We can address it. There are many things that we can do even at the FDA addressing food, which many people forget is, the first letter of the FDA is food. It’s not just drugs.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to unveil a national strategy in the coming weeks based on the report’s findings, according to a report by the Daily Wire. The strategy will aim to combat the alarming rise of chronic diseases, particularly among children.
