RFK Jr.'s new 'MAHA' report gives road map to improving kids' health but stops short of action

A long-awaited follow-up to the Trump administration’s MAHA report aims to outline steps to improve kids’ health but is light on specifics and stops short of cracking down on pesticides and ultra-processed foods.

WASHINGTON — A long-awaited follow-up to the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” report released Tuesday aims to outline steps to improve kids’ health — calling for better nutrition, more exercise, and a review of vaccines and drugs — but is light on specifics and stops short of cracking down on pesticides and ultra-processed foods.

The second installment of the MAHA report — dubbed the “Make Our Children Healthy Again” strategy report — is meant to build on the White House and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s initial assessment in May, which referred to children as “the sickest generation in American history.”

Tuesday’s report is intended to serve as a road map for tackling childhood chronic disease. In many cases, it presents actions the administration has already taken as new ideas.

“A lot of these 128 recommendations are the things that I’ve been dreaming about,” Kennedy said during a briefing, calling it a “historical collaboration” between health care workers, teachers and industry.

The report’s core focus boils down to four key areas: investing more in research; policy reforms including a new “vaccine framework”; raising public awareness of health concerns that affect children; and partnering with the private sector. It makes no mention of food insecurity or gun violence, two key threats to children’s health.