Why RFK is a Broken Clock.

More than 40% of kids in the U.S. now have at least one chronic illness. That’s not a typo. According to the “Make Our Children Healthy Again” (MAHA) report from the President’s Commission, we’re living through a health emergency that’s quietly taking root in the lives of our children. And it’s not just obesity—it’s diabetes, asthma, anxiety, ADHD, allergies, cancer, and more.

But what’s causing this massive decline in child health? The MAHA report points to four major drivers: ultra-processed foods, chemical exposure, lifestyle changes (like screen time and inactivity), and overmedication. In this blog, we’ll walk through each one and why it matters.

Ultra-Processed Foods Are Dominating Our Diets

Nearly 70% of the calories American kids eat now come from ultra-processed foods (UPFs)—stuff like chips, sugary cereals, packaged snacks, and fast food. These aren’t just convenient. They’re crafted to be addictive and often lack basic nutrients kids need to grow strong.

“The rise in UPF consumption has led to the dominance of three key ingredients in American children’s diets: ultra-processed grains, sugars, and fats.”

Other countries eat less of this stuff. In France, Portugal, and Italy, UPFs make up only 10–31% of diets. Not surprisingly, they also have lower obesity rates. In the U.S., more than 1 in 5 children over 6 are obese—a number that has jumped 270% since the 1970s.

Chemical Exposures Are Everywhere—and Kids Are Most at Risk

Over 40,000 chemicals are registered for use in the U.S., and many are found in food, water, and even the air children breathe. Some are known to affect brain development and hormones. Worse, babies and young kids are especially vulnerable.

“Children are particularly vulnerable to chemicals during critical stages of development—in utero, infancy, early childhood, and puberty.”

These chemicals include pesticides, plastics, and substances like PFAS that don’t easily break down in the body. And yet, risk assessments often look at one chemical at a time, not the toxic mix we all live in daily.

Screens, Stress, and Sitting Still: Lifestyle Changes That Hurt Health

Remember when kids ran around outside for hours? Today, the average teen spends nearly 9 hours a day on screens (not counting schoolwork). Physical activity, sleep, and real-world social connections are all on the decline.

“Over 70% of children, and 85% of teens, fail to meet the 2024 federal guideline of 60 minutes of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.”

This screen-centered lifestyle leads to chronic stress, anxiety, and depression. Three million high school students seriously considered suicide in 2023. That’s is an emergency.

Overmedication: A Healthcare System That Treats Symptoms, Not Causes

Instead of tackling the root causes, the U.S. system often responds with prescriptions.

• Stimulant prescriptions for ADHD rose 250% from 2006 to 2016.
• Antidepressant use among teens increased 1,400% from 1987 to 2014.
• One in three antibiotic prescriptions for kids is unnecessary.

“More than 15 million prescriptions of antibiotics for children are unnecessary each year.”

Sometimes medicine helps. But overuse can create new problems, like obesity, gut problems, or even worsening mental health.

Who’s Profiting From This Crisis?

The report doesn’t stop at the symptoms. It names names. Industries with a financial stake in food, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals have deep influence over research and policy.

“Industry-funded nutrition research may bias conclusions in favor of sponsors’ products.”

It’s hard to know who to trust when the food industry funds the majority of nutrition studies, or when 9 out of the last 10 FDA commissioners moved into pharmaceutical jobs after leaving office. That’s not science—that’s corporate capture.

Related, let’s consider the context of this report.

The MAHA Commission was formed under a politically conservative agenda. That doesn’t automatically invalidate the report, but it’s worth asking: Why now? Why this framing?

When science is used as a tool for ideology, it’s easy to lose sight of nuance. Some critics argue that the report oversimplifies complex problems and omits social determinants like poverty, racism, or access to care—factors just as important as food or screen time.

Futher, The report doesn’t include first-hand stories from families, pediatricians, school nurses, or public health workers on the ground. That’s a problem. This is a necessary condition for community-focuses research and planning.

Without these perspectives, the report risks sounding top-down and out of touch. It also means we don’t hear from the communities that often face the worst health outcomes, like low-income families or communities of color (which, of course, may be intentional)

Let’s not oversimplify.

While the report offers some smart ideas—like reducing chemical exposure or promoting real food—it sometimes swings too hard toward fear-based messaging.

• Screens aren’t all bad. They connect kids with learning and social support.
• Medication, when prescribed correctly, can save lives. This shouldn’t even be remotely controversial.
• Not all processed food is harmful—some is necessary for affordability and access.

A public health approach should balance risk with equity, not just sound alarms.

So What Do We Do?

The MAHA report calls for a complete reset: less processed food, fewer toxic exposures, more activity, and smarter, more ethical healthcare. It also calls for transparency—so that families, doctors, and educators can actually trust the information they’re getting.

Final Thoughts

The report is strong on critique but vague on policy. What exactly should governments do? How do we fund changes to school food programs or regulate chemicals without creating new burdens for families or schools?

It’s easy to destroy. It is harder to build.

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