WASHINGTON — A new report spearheaded by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and sent to President Trump on Tuesday suggested dozens of federal actions meant to improve kids’ health, including tackling “illegal vapes,” researching screen time “addiction” and overhauling baby formulas.
The laundry list of ideas are set to be presented to the president to inform future executive orders that will alter how the federal government researches “childhood chronic disease.”
The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission was established in February after an executive order from Trump, who gave the 71-year-old Kennedy carte blanche to remake public health in America.
Tuesday’s report identifies four main possible factors behind childhood chronic disease, including poor diet, chemical exposure, lack of physical activity and chronic stress, and over-medicalization.
Excessive use of screens is named as a contributor to lack of physical activity and chronic stress.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and HHHS will lead the charge on researching screen time as an “addiction” similar to drug and alcohol abuse — while the Surgeon General will launch a education and awareness program on the effects of children using screens.
Illegal vaping, the report states, will be monitored by the Food and Drug Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives via a campaign that stresses the Trump administration will not allow children to gain access to vaping products.
Chinese suppliers have flooded the market with unregulated and flavored vapes, many of which are not approved by the FDA.
Several parts of the report address babies having access to formula and breast milk, with the commission also focusing on ways to increase fertility rates.
Infant formula will be addressed through the FDA tightening nutrient requirements, and the USDA and HHS will work to get a more secure supply of human breast milk to needy mothers.
The administration will “increase testing for heavy metals and other contaminants to help ensure access to high-quality and healthy infant formula sold in the United States, and encourage companies to develop new infant formulas,” the report says.
In March, Kennedy ordered the first comprehensive review in nearly three decades of the ingredients and nutrients in baby formula, which about three-quarters of infants consume during their first six months of life, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In 2022, bacterial contamination shut down an Abbott factory in Michigan, leading to months-long shortages.
The USDA and HHS will also “work to increase breastfeeding rates, whether through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children or other policies, that support
breastfeeding mothers, and will work with other Federal partners to develop policies to promote and ensure a safe supply of donor human milk.”
