Latest 'MAHA' childhood disease report 'lacks details,' critics say

The latest "Make America Healthy Again" report overseen by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promises to end childhood diseases, but it lacks concrete changes and calls for more investigations into vaccines. 

The 20-page report, released Tuesday, echoes many of the talking points Kennedy and those in his wide-ranging and politically diverse "MAHA" movement have united around. It directs the nation’s public health and environmental agencies to prioritize investigations into vaccine injuries, prescription drug use and the causes of autism. 

Critics, including Kennedy supporters and backers of the Make America Healthy Again movement, say the failure to address pesticides and other chemicals is "deeply" disappointing. The report was produced by a "MAHA" commission that included Kennedy and other members of the president’s cabinet.

What does the report say? 

Big picture view: The report points to four potential reasons for the rise in chronic childhood disease, including: 

• Poor diet (highly processed foods with potentially harmful or unhealthy additives)
• Chemical exposure
• Lack of physical activity and chronic stress
• Overmedicalization: described in the report as a "concerning trend" of overprescribing medications to children, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers and stimulants.

READ MORE: Tylenol-maker shares sink after report says RFK's HHS will link drug to autism

It also calls for more investigations into: 

• Vaccine injuries (even as lawmakers raise alarm over the health secretary’s anti-vaccine policies)
• Water quality
• Air quality
• Microplastics and synthetics

Dig deeper:

An earlier version of the report was first leaked and publicized in August. Slight changes have been made to the final draft. Despite pledging "radical transparency," the commission never held a public meeting ahead of the report’s release.

Among the differences in the final version of the report released on Tuesday is a call for the National Institutes of Health to use personal medical records and health insurance claims data to investigate the cause of diseases and disorders, including autism.

"The NIH will link multiple datasets, such as claims information, electronic health records, and wearables data, into a single integrated dataset for researchers studying the causes of, and developing treatments for, the chronic disease crisis," the report says.

What they're saying:

"The Trump Administration is mobilizing every part of government to confront the childhood chronic disease epidemic. This strategy represents the most sweeping reform agenda in modern history—realigning our food and health systems, driving education, and unleashing science to protect America’s children and families. We are ending the corporate capture of public health, restoring transparency, and putting gold-standard science—not special interests—at the center of every decision," Kennedy said.

The other side:

Critics say the final report appears more heavily influenced by chemical industry lobbyists than the draft report leaked in August. 

"What this says to me is that the first report was written by MAHA," Jerold Mande, an adjunct professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told Time. "The second one, the White House let industry lobbyists write it."

"We are deeply disappointed that the committee allowed the chemical companies to influence the report," Moms Across America founder Zen Honeycutt said in a statement to Axios. 

Dr. Susan J. Kressly, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said Kennedy’s anti-vaccine rhetoric, coupled with crippling cuts to federal health programs, could lead to worse health outcomes for children. 

"It lacks details on how the Administration plans to address those issues and omits key drivers that harm children’s health, including gun violence and environmental hazards," Kressly said of the report. "We also cannot ignore the fact that this report is being published in the context of other recent harmful actions by the Administration and Congress that undermine many of the report’s recommendations."

Crackdown on pharmaceutical ads

What's next:

President Donald Trump ordered his first action as a result of the MAHA report’s recommendations on Tuesday evening, signing a memorandum to beef up enforcement of pharmaceutical ads that run across TVs, websites and social media accounts. Administration officials said during a call on Tuesday that they would be sending "hundreds" of letters to pharmaceutical companies that have run misleading ads.

The National Institutes of Health, which is facing a 40% cut to its budget, is tasked with undertaking much of the MAHA-related research in the report.

Kennedy’s anti-vaccine policies

The backstory:

A bipartisan group of senators has raised alarm over Kennedy’s actions at the CDC, which was thrown into chaos last month when Kennedy abruptly fired his hand-picked director and other top leaders walked out on the job, citing disagreements over immunization recommendations. Last week, senators grilled Kennedy over his anti-vaccine agenda and leadership of the public health agencies.

RELATED: RFK Jr. testifying at Senate hearing about CDC, vaccine policies

Kennedy has also vowed for months that he would unveil the cause of autism, a complex developmental disorder that impacts the brain, by September. He has promised to execute a massive research effort to identify the disorder’s causes, but has stayed mum on details regarding who is conducting that research and when it will be released.

Those who have spent decades researching autism have found no single cause. Besides genetics, scientists have identified various possible factors, including the age of a child’s father, the mother’s weight, and whether she had diabetes or was exposed to certain chemicals.