MAHA Commission unveils landmark report exposing pesticides as a root causes of childhood chronic disease crisis

Title: MAHA Commission unveils landmark report exposing pesticides as a root causes of childhood chronic disease crisis

WASHINGTON, DC—May 22, 2025—The Presidential Commission to Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) has released a groundbreaking assessment identifying key drivers behind the childhood chronic disease crisis. Coming just 98 days after President Trump signed an Executive Order establishing the MAHA Commission and tasking it with delivering a “Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment”. The report exposes a range of contributing factors with a clear focus on the role of pesticides:

"The cumulative load of thousands of synthetic chemicals that our children are exposed to through the food they eat, the water they drink, and the air they breathe may pose risks to their long-term health, including neurodevelopmental and endocrine effects ... Pesticides, microplastics, and dioxins are commonly found in the blood and urine of American children and pregnant women—some at alarming levels. Children are particularly vulnerable to chemicals during critical stages of development—in utero, infancy, early childhood, and puberty. Research suggests that for some chemicals, this cumulative load of exposures may be driving higher rates of chronic childhood diseases" (p. 16).

The assessment arms MAHA Commission stakeholders and partners with clear evidence that will support the development of effective policy interventions where they can deliver the greatest impact to create improvements.==“We will end the childhood chronic disease crisis by attacking its root causes head-on—not just managing its symptoms,” said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “We will follow the truth wherever it leads, uphold rigorous science, and drive bold policies that put the health, development, and future of every child first ... agriculture is at the heart of the solution".

The need for this report is clear:

Today in the U.S. more than 1 in 5 children over 6 years old are obese. This is a more than 270% increase compared to the 1970s.
Prevalence of pre-diabetes in teens is more than 1 in 4 teens, having more than doubled over the last 2 decades.
Childhood cancer incidence has risen over nearly 40% since 1975, especially in children aged 0-19.
Autism spectrum disorder impacts 1 in 31 children by age 8.
Teenage depression rates nearly doubled from 2009 to 2019, and with more than 1 in 4 teenage girls in 2022 reporting a major depressive episode in the past year.
Three million high school students seriously considered suicide in 2023.
Between 1997 and 2018, childhood food‑allergy prevalence rose 88%.

Next steps will include supporting gold-standard scientific research and developing a comprehensive strategy. The MAHA commission now has 82 days to produce the Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy, based on the findings from today’s assessment.

The National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will act swiftly to close research gaps and drive decisive action against the escalating childhood chronic disease crisis. From overhauling GRAS oversight to harnessing AI for real-time surveillance and tackling the replication crisis, these agencies are on the front lines. These agencies will lead the charge in ending the childhood chronic disease epidemic to Make America Healthy Again.

Read the full report here

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Article: WeedsNews6910 (permalink)
Categories: :WeedsNews:health, :WeedsNews:reproductive health, :WeedsNews:policy, :WeedsNews:international policy
Date: 26 May 2025; 8:16:55 am Australian Eastern Standard Time

Author Name: David Low
Author ID: adminDavid