Established by Executive Order back in January, the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission has been given the ambitious goal of studying the “childhood chronic disease crisis.” The commission is expected to propose new solutions and bring “transparency, integrity, rigor” to food, nutrition, and public health issues in America today.
At the end of May, the commission presented its initial assessment ignoring issues related to access and health inequities that impact families and communities across the country. Leaving aside this lack of understanding of systemic barriers to childhood chronic disease, the report has also come under fire for its use of AI and consequent inaccurate citations, including some resources that don’t exist. Digging deeper into the content, the report fails on four key fronts. First, it uplifts anti-scientific ideas championed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Second, it mentions corporate influence on the food system but fails to outline how MAHA will hold the food industry accountable. Third, the actions of the Trump administration directly undermine some of the good ideas discussed in the assessment. And fourth, some good ideas mentioned are directly contradicted by bad ideas in the same report.
Anti-scientific ideas
This assessment selectively picks from the scientific literature to support Kennedy’s predetermined biases in favor of specific diets and products such as animal fats, and against vaccines and exposure to electromagnetic radiation—anti-scientific beliefs that Kennedy has raged about for years.
Failing to hold industry accountable
The report mentions industry influence over research but does little to suggest how to hold industry accountable. In fact, it asserts that regulatory systems stifle growth and focuses on “unleashing private sector innovation.” We will be watching closely to see if all the anti-industry rhetoric devolves into pro-industry policies. Just look at the big announcement from back in April about the FDA’s plans to phase out synthetic dyes from foods. That announcement is nothing more than an unspecified "understanding” with some unspecified fraction of the food industry to eliminate dyes. It involves no rulemaking of any sort. A far more likely outcome is that the White House will continue to welcome industry groups with open arms and answer with deeper budget cuts to regulatory agencies.
The Trump Administration's actions cancel out the few good ideas in the report
Even when the report outlines a good idea—like increasing consumption of whole, unprocessed foods, which CSPI and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans support— the administration’s actions since January are at odds with these ideas. For example, the assessment says that “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.” CSPI agrees, and supports improved access to local, whole foods—especially for children. However, back in March, the administration terminated more than $1 billion in funding that helped small farmers put fresh, local food into schools and food banks.
Likewise, environmental exposures are cited as contributing to the rates of chronic diseases among American children. However, just a few weeks ago, the Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was eliminated as part of a widespread reduction in force of 10,000 employees across HHS. Further, just as the assessment ignores the issue of tobacco and alcohol use, it neglects to mention the role of air pollution on children specifically and carbon emissions on public health generally.
Contradicting good ideas with bad: Cuts to research funding
The assessment side steps the question of how little the National Institutes of Health (NIH) currently spends on studying nutrition issues. Moreover, the president’s proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget would cut more than $18 billion in NIH research funding (40 percent of the budget). That’s not all: Instead of lifting up institutions and universities interested in researching nutrition and chronic disease, the Trump administration unlawfully terminated funding for hundreds of grants, cancelled all federal funding to Harvard University, and is currently attacking other academic institutions. It is hard to see how nutrition research can survive that combined salvo.
The bottom line
The assessment regurgitates the same talking points we have heard from this administration since January: false claims about the “harms” of seed oils, fluoride, and vaccines, unsubstantiated claims about “ineffective” government nutrition programs, and an implied push for industry deregulation.
Beyond the hashtags and press conferences, this new federal focus on nutrition and chronic disease warrants careful monitoring. The MAHA Commission is looking at the very real problems Americans face when it comes to life, chronic disease, and the food we eat. However, everyone who cares about these issues needs to pay attention to what the administration does, not what it says.
Making America Healthy Again will first require the administration to undo the harm it has caused since January, decimating critical public health programs and institutions. CSPI and our advocacy partners will continue to hold government and industry accountable, but we are not holding our breath for earth-shattering novel policy ideas in the follow-up report that is expected in August. More likely, it will continue to emphasize the secretary’s pet peeves, which form the core of the current report.
