HHS commission releases strategy for children’s health: 5 takeaways
The Make America Healthy Again Commission, a newly created advisory body under HHS, published a report on chronic disease and children’s health Sept. 9.
The commission’s “Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy” covers a slew of topics, including environmental chemicals, ultra-processed foods, screen time and “overmedicalization,” which the report describes as the overprescribing of medications to children.
The 73-page report calls for more whole milk offerings in U.S. schools, a revision of dietary guidelines, the reduction of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, so-called “forever chemicals,” and more than 100 other reforms.
“The nightmare scenario that we face [is] our children are going to be less healthy than we are. They’re going to lead shorter, less healthy lives than we are,” National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, said in a press conference. “What this report represents is a path out of that scenario.”
Five things to know:
1. Researching vaccine injuries, encouraging “gold-standard research” and expediting FDA approvals are among the 128 strategies outlined in the report.
Regarding vaccine injuries, the commission’s report said a 1986 federal law that shields vaccine manufacturers from liability for vaccine-related injuries creates conflict of interest. The commission said the law discourages manufacturers from identifying safety issues.
The report discusses expanding the NIH’s research capabilities on chronic disease prevention. Over the last few months, federal agencies, including the NIH and HHS, have enacted sweeping layoffs and consolidated several research subagencies.
2. The report examines the rise of prescriptions for children, including therapies for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depression, asthma and weight loss drugs such as GLP-1 medications.
It also throws the CDC’s childhood vaccine schedule into question.
“Since 1986, for the average child, by 1 year of age, the number of recommended vaccines on the CDC childhood schedule has increased from three injections to 29 injections (including in utero exposures from vaccines administered to the mother),” the report said.
“Despite the growth of the childhood vaccine schedule, there has been limited scientific inquiry into the links between vaccines and chronic disease, the impacts of vaccine injury, and conflicts of interest in the development of the vaccine schedule,” according to the report.
This year, the FDA has reversed its guidance on coadministering vaccines, and the CDC has revoked its recommendation that pregnant women and healthy children receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Several states have enacted their own inoculation schedules, muddying the map of vaccine coverage.
3. The White House created the MAHA Commission in February. As part of the MAHA agenda — spearheaded by President Donald Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who chairs the commission — the Department of Education and HHS have pushed for reforms in medical schools.
Specifically, the federal government is prodding medical schools to revamp nutrition education and training in curricula as part of its sweeping initiative to tackle chronic disease and promote prevention-focused care.
4. The Republican-led House Appropriations Committee’s spending bill for 2026, released Sept. 2, proposes allocating $100 million to the MAHA initiative, with 10% of funds set aside for Native American health organizations.
The funding would allow the commission to invest in telehealth resources for chronic care and nutrition services, advance telemedicine tools and AI-assisted telehealth technologies.
5. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that a draft of the report linked acetaminophen, often sold under the brand name Tylenol, to autism spectrum disorder.
An HHS spokesperson told the Journal that “any claims about [the commission report’s] contents are nothing more than speculation.” The Sept. 9 report does not include mention of acetaminophen; however, the commission is expected to release a report about autism later in September.
A 2024 study spanning more than 2 million children in Sweden found that the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy was not associated with a risk of a child developing autism, ADHD or intellectual disability.
Between 2011 to 2023, the prevalence of chronic conditions among 3- to 17-year-old children grew from 39.9% to 45.7%, according to research published July 7 in JAMA. The incidence rate of autism rose 2.62% during that time period.
In April, a CDC report estimated that 1 in 31 U.S. children are diagnosed with autism before their 8th birthday. In 2016, the estimate was 1 in 54 8-year-olds, and in 2000, it was 1 in 150.
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