Make America Healthy Again

Last updated

"Make America Healthy Again" logo used by the White House Logo for Make America Healthy Again.png
"Make America Healthy Again" logo used by the White House

Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) is an American populist slogan and political movement led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who serves as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the second Trump administration. The slogan, echoing the "Make America Great Again" phrase popularized by Donald Trump and his ideology, reflects a focus on public health issues. MAHA gained broader attention following the suspension of Kennedy's independent presidential campaign in August 2024 and his subsequent endorsement of Trump. [1]

Contents

According to its proponents, MAHA's primary beliefs are that there is a chronic illness epidemic in the United States, advocating for what they believe are healthier lifestyle choices (including drinking raw milk, taking dietary supplements, and adopting various fad diets), suggesting that autism is caused by environmental effects (especially vaccines) and therefore need to be cured through detoxification, and contending that corruption in the food and pharmaceutical industries is a major source of health problems. [2] [3] [4] [5]

In February 2025, President Trump established the MAHA Commission, chaired by Kennedy, to study psychiatric and anti-obesity medication, childhood diseases, and mental disorders. Its May 2025 MAHA Assessment cited poor diet, environmental chemicals, lack of exercise, stress, and overmedicalization as major child health concerns, while questioning vaccines, water fluoridation, and other public health measures. The Department of Health & Human Services released the "Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy" in September 2025, proposing food regulation, SNAP restrictions on processed foods, removal of artificial dyes, and scrutiny of pesticides, drawing attention for omitting leading causes of childhood death and promoting controversial claims about vaccines, Wi-Fi, and 5G.

MAHA has received mixed support and criticism. Some proposals, particularly regarding food and pharmaceutical regulation, received limited bipartisan backing, and a January 2025 survey indicated that 30% of Americans supported the movement, with higher support among conservatives. Scientists, medical professionals, and public health officials have criticized MAHA for promoting misinformation, misrepresenting scientific studies, and aligning with anti-vaccine activism. Supporters include health-conscious individuals, certain environmental groups, and others concerned with regulating the food and pharmaceutical industries.

MAHA Commission

President Trump established the MAHA Commission by Executive Order 14212 [ws] on February 13, 2025. The commission is chaired by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and includes other Trump officials, including secretary of education Linda McMahon and director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought. [6] Vince Haley, director of the United States Domestic Policy Council, is executive director. [7] [8] The order directed the commission to examine the "prevalence of and threat posed by the prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and weight-loss drugs" within 100 days. [9] The commission was also tasked with researching childhood diseases and mental disorders, including autism. [10] A few days after the announcement of the Executive Order, Kennedy stated that he would use the commission to critically assess childhood vaccine schedules and psychiatric medicines. [11] Kennedy privately convened the committee's inaugural meeting in mid-March. [12]

MAHA Assessment

The commission released the MAHA Assessment report on May 22, 2025. [13] It addresses what the commission sees as the four main causes of health problems in children: poor diet, environmental chemicals, lack of physical activity and stress, and overmedicalization. [14] [15] According to The New York Times , Nancy Beck, the principal deputy assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency overseeing the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, pushed to restrain mentions of pesticides in the commission's report. [16] The Wall Street Journal reported that Kennedy's criticisms of pesticides drew ire from some Trump officials. [17]

MAHA Strategy

The Department of Health & Human Services announced the release of the "Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy" report on September 9, 2025. [18] [19] The Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy is another part of EO 14212. The strategy document lists specific actions to implement findings of the MAHA report released in May 2025. [18] A preliminary draft of "Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy" did not mention the leading causes of childhood death, those being firearms and motor vehicle accidents, and was described by Ars Technica as "echoing long-held conspiracy theories and misinformation about Wi-Fi and 5G". It also continued to cast doubt on the safety of water fluoridation and childhood vaccines. [20]

Policy

Water fluoridation

Water fluoridation, the controlled addition of fluoride to public water supplies to reduce tooth decay, is one of the concerns of the MAHA movement. [21] The public health practice reduces cavities in children and has been praised by dentists and public health experts. [22] [23] [24] The World Health Organization, FDI World Dental Federation, American Dental Association (ADA), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state that water fluoridation is safe and effective; it is regarded as one of the ten greatest public health achievements of the 20th century by the CDC. [25] [26] A majority of dental experts, including the ADA and CDC, disagree with Kennedy's views on water fluoridation. [27] [26]

Vaccines

In May 2025, under Kennedy's leadership, the CDC stopped recommending the COVID-19 vaccine for children and pregnant women. [28] The same month, HH&S halted a clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine pill. [29] In June, Kennedy fired all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and appointed several prominent anti-vaccine activists. [30]

Food

The MAHA movement places strong emphasis on food, specifically regarding the impact of ultra-processed foods on children's health and chronic disease prevention. [31] Following the FDA's ban on Red dye No. 3 in January 2025, [32] Kennedy announced that the FDA would be focusing on removing petroleum-based artificial food dyes from the American food supply by 2026. [33] MAHA frequently criticizes glyphosate, [34] and atrazine. [35]

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

In 2025, both Kennedy and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins support preventing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients from using benefits for "processed foods and candy". [36] Since that announcement, four states, West Virginia, Idaho, Arkansas, and Indiana submitted waivers to overhaul SNAP benefits in their states to restrict usage of benefits for "candy and soda". [37]

Reception

A survey conducted in January 2025 by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed that 30 percent of Americans supported Kennedy's health agenda compared to 42 percent who disapproved, with support among conservatives significantly higher. [38] [39] MAHA has been criticized by the mainstream medical community and news outlets, who have said that MAHA mixes promotion of healthy living with public health conspiracy theories, citing the movement's close ties to the anti-vaccine community. [40] [41] [42] Critics have characterized the movement as a cult, with The New Yorker describing Kennedy as being viewed as a faith healer who "should not be criticized; a vast conspiracy threatens the movement; triumph is ongoing, even if the movement's crusade against dangerous pesticides and heavy metals in the soil and drinking water has culminated in the election of a President who apparently loves all that stuff". [34] The New York Times described it as attracting a loose coalition of health-conscious moms, men's rights activists, and some environmental groups. It described traditional environmentalists as being "wary" of MAHA's controversial positions on vaccines and other issues. [35]

Proposals of the movement, such as the increased regulation of food and pharmaceutical companies, received early bipartisan support in late 2024 and early 2025, and were praised by Democratic Colorado governor Jared Polis and independent Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, despite both Polis and Sanders objecting to Kennedy's views on vaccines. [43] [44] Sanders called Kennedy's stance on the food industry "exactly correct" but described his broader health views as "extremely dangerous". In May 2025, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) criticized MAHA for fabricating sources in their report. [45] The DNC also referred to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a conspiracy theorist, arguing that with his help, "Donald Trump is putting millions of Americans' health care and safety at risk." [46] Analysis of the MAHA Assessment report revealed multiple references to non-existent studies and authors, suggestive of the use of artificial intelligence, as well as mischaracterizations of the conclusions of real sources. [47] [48]

See also

References

  1. Tin, Alexander (November 12, 2024). "What is "Make America Healthy Again"? What to know about Trump and RFK Jr.'s wide-ranging platform". CBS News . Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  2. Payne, Daniel; Schumaker, Erin; Paun, Carmen; Reader, Ruth (November 6, 2024). "It's a MAHA world now". POLITICO. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  3. Zhang, Rachel Cohrs (January 20, 2025). "Trump finally finds a populist health care message in Kennedy's MAHA" . STAT. Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  4. Falzone, Dianne (April 14, 2025). "What does RFK Jr.'s 'Make America Healthy Again' movement aim to do?". NewsNation. Archived from the original on May 26, 2025. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
  5. Kalaitzandonakes, Maria; Ellison, Brenna; Coppess, Jonathan (June 4, 2025). "Food System Beliefs of Make America Healthy Again Supporters". Farmdoc Daily.
  6. Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (March 11, 2025). "Kennedy Will Convene a New Health Commission in Private". The New York Times . Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  7. BGR Group (March 4, 2025). "The Maha Movement and the Trump Agenda" (PDF).
  8. "President Trump Establishes Make America Healthy Again Commission". February 21, 2025. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  9. Nirappil, Fenit; Cha, Ariana; Gilbert, Caitlin (February 17, 2025). "Trump casts psychiatric and weight-loss drugs as threats". The Washington Post . Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  10. Diamond, Dan (April 4, 2025). "NIH prepares to launch new research into autism causes, a Trump priority". The Washington Post . Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  11. Stolberg, Sheryl Gay; Jewett, Christina (February 18, 2025). "Kennedy Says 'Nothing' Off Limits in Scrutinizing Chronic Disease". The New York Times . Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  12. Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (March 11, 2025). "Kennedy Will Convene a New Health Commission in Private". The New York Times . Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  13. Stolberg, Sheryl Gay; Blum, Dani (May 22, 2025). "Kennedy and Trump Paint Bleak Picture of Chronic Disease in U.S. Children". The New York Times . Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  14. "The MAHA Report Assessment" (PDF). The White House. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  15. "Administrative action". BGR Group . Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  16. Tabuchi, Hiroko (May 20, 2025). "Kennedy's Allies Against Pesticides: Environmentalists, Moms and Manly Men". The New York Times . Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  17. Peterson, Kristina; Dawsey, Josh; Whyte, Liz (May 14, 2025). "Trump Officials Balk at RFK Jr.'s Attack on Pesticides". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  18. 1 2 "MAHA Commission Unveils Sweeping Strategy to Make Our Children Healthy Again". hhs.gov. Washington D.C. September 9, 2025. Retrieved September 12, 2025.
  19. "The MAHA Strategy Report" (PDF). www.whitehouse.gov. September 8, 2025. Retrieved September 12, 2025.
  20. Mole, Beth (August 18, 2025). "RFK Jr.'s Wi-Fi and 5G conspiracies appear to make it into MAHA report draft". Ars Technica. Retrieved August 26, 2025.
  21. Rogers, Kristen (May 31, 2025). "MAHA doc 'Toxic Nation' says 4 things are sickening us". CNN. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  22. Iheozor-Ejiofor, Zipporah; Walsh, Tanya; Lewis, Sharon R.; Riley, Philip; Boyers, Dwayne; Clarkson, Janet E.; Worthington, Helen V.; Glenny, Anne-Marie; O'Malley, Lucy (October 4, 2024). "Water fluoridation for the prevention of dental caries". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 10 (10) CD010856. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD010856.pub3. ISSN   1469-493X. PMC   11449566 . PMID   39362658.
  23. "What role does fluoride play in preventing tooth decay?". European Union: Public Health. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  24. Parnell, C.; Whelton, H.; O'Mullane, D. (September 1, 2009). "Water Fluoridation" . European Archives of Paediatric Dentistry. 10 (3): 141–148. doi:10.1007/BF03262675. ISSN   1996-9805. PMID   19772843.
  25. CDC (April 1999). "Ten great public health achievements – United States, 1900–1999". MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 48 (12): 241–243. PMID   10220250.
  26. 1 2 CDC (September 12, 2024). "CDC Scientific Statement on Community Water Fluoridation". Community Water Fluoridation. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  27. "What to know about fluoride in water following RFK Jr.'s health claims, controversial studies - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. January 6, 2025. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  28. "CDC removes language that says healthy kids and pregnant women should get COVID shots". PBS News. May 30, 2025. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
  29. Waldron, James (March 21, 2025). "Vaxart lays off 10% of staff after HHS unexpectedly demands halt to COVID vaccine trial". Fierce Biotech. Questex . Retrieved May 21, 2025.
  30. Scott, Dylan (June 16, 2025). "Can you still trust the US government's vaccine recommendations?". Vox. Retrieved August 26, 2025. The deepening divide between Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement and mainstream medicine could make it harder for people who want vaccines to get them, while encouraging more doubt about the value and safety of shots among the general public.
  31. Dawson, Paul (May 27, 2025). "MAHA report on children's health highlights harms of ultra-processed foods – a food scientist explains the research". Clemson University News. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  32. Aleccia, Jonel (February 15, 2025). "Red dye No. 3 has been banned, but what about other artificial food dyes?". AP News. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  33. Reed, Tina (May 9, 2025). "FDA approves 3 color additives as part of RFK Jr. dye ban effort". Axios. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  34. 1 2 Winter, Jessica (August 21, 2025). "Will the MAHA Moms Turn on Trump?" . The New Yorker. Retrieved August 26, 2025.
  35. 1 2 Tabuchi, Hiroko (May 20, 2025). "Kennedy's Allies Against Pesticides: Environmentalists, Moms and Manly Men" . The New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2025.
  36. Aleccia, Jonel (February 19, 2025). "RFK Jr. suggests banning candy and soda from the $113 billion SNAP program: 'We shouldn't be subsidizing people to eat poison'". Fortune. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  37. McDuffie, Will; Haslett, Cheyenne (April 16, 2025). "4 states aim to prevent food stamps recipients from using program to buy candy, soda". ABC News. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  38. Sanders, Linley (January 29, 2025). "What US adults think of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his views on vaccines, fluoride and raw milk". AP News. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  39. Stanton, Andrew (January 29, 2025). "How Americans feel about RFK Jr., vaccines amid confirmation hearing". Newsweek. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  40. "What Is MAHA? How wellness culture with legitimate concerns (and some conspiratorial beliefs) became a movement poised to take Washington". Intelligencer. December 16, 2024. Retrieved February 21, 2025.
  41. Ollstein, Alice Miranda; Cancryn, Adam (November 22, 2024). "Kennedy's 'MAHA transition team' includes anti-vax activists". POLITICO. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  42. Stone, Will (January 28, 2025). "Doctors opposing RFK Jr. rally in the lead-up to his confirmation". NPR. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  43. Gurney, Jeff; Boyd, Shaun (November 14, 2024). "Why Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis says he's "excited" about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for HHS secretary - CBS Colorado". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  44. Leingang, Rachel (November 19, 2024). "Jared Polis, who praised Trump's pick of RFK Jr, on why he's willing to work with incoming president". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  45. Mitchell, Ottilie (May 29, 2025). "US government report cited non-existent sources, academics say". BBC News. Retrieved August 13, 2025.
  46. Reese, Shelby (May 29, 2025). "RFK's Snake Oil: "MAHA" Report Rife with Misinformation". Democratic National Committee. Retrieved August 13, 2025.
  47. Blum, Dani; Astor, Maggie (May 29, 2025). "White House Health Report Included Fake Citations". The New York Times . Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  48. Limauro, Andrea (May 29, 2025). "White House MAHA report may have garbled science by using AI, experts say". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 31, 2025.