The long-awaited Make Our Children Healthy Again draft strategy landed this week. This was supposed to be the moment: the major policy blueprint from RFK Jr.’s HHS, the bold plan to tackle childhood chronic disease.
Instead, what we got was a document of avoidance. Heavy on rhetoric, light on action. And what it leaves out is louder than what it says.
What Science Shows vs. What the MAHA Draft Prioritizes
| What’s Really Killing & Harming Kids | What the Draft Report Focuses On |
|---|---|
| Air Pollution — proven driver of asthma, cardiovascular disease, and premature death. | Omitted entirely. No mention of particulates, PFAS, or lead. |
| Firearms — the #1 cause of death for U.S. children and teens. | Silence. Not a single recommendation. |
| Motor Vehicle Crashes — the #2 cause of child death. | Silence. No reforms, no prevention. |
| Youth Suicide — rates have doubled over two decades, especially among Black teens. | Silence. Not one mention. |
| Drug Overdoses — rising among adolescents nationwide. | Narcan training for librarians. No structural action. |
| Pesticides & Industrial Chemicals — mounting evidence of long-term harm. | Reassurance only: “confidence in EPA’s robust pesticide review.” |
| Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs) — established driver of obesity and metabolic disease. | Barely mentioned. Instead: promote whole milk in schools. |
What the Draft Report Actually Contains
The leaked Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy (dated August 11, 2025) reads less like a governing plan and more like a position paper. Here are the core planks:
- Education, not regulation. Reliance on “more research” and public campaigns instead of enforceable policies. Even pesticides are softened to “confidence in EPA’s robust review procedures.”
- Marketing “limits.” Suggests voluntary guidelines on unhealthy food ads to kids and closer monitoring of pharma influencer ads—but no bans.
- Nutrition pivots. Promotes full-fat dairy in schools, proposes “MAHA boxes” of food for SNAP recipients, more nutrition classes, and mobile grocery trucks. Barely mentions ultra-processed foods.
- Vaccine lane. Leaves the door open for “schedule reform” and calls for addressing “vaccine injuries,” with no specifics.
- Mental health meds. Calls for more prior authorization and prescribing hurdles for stimulants, SSRIs, and antipsychotics—especially in Medicaid.
- Fluoride. Directs scrutiny of fluoride drops and tablets, echoing Kennedy’s long-standing skepticism.
- Electromagnetic radiation. Calls for more study into Wi-Fi and cell phone radiation, despite scientific consensus of no proven harm.
- Agency maneuvers. Signals that Kennedy’s “Administration for a Healthy America” may move forward as a “new agency structure” inside HHS—even though Congress refused to fund it.
What Experts Are Saying
“This report has one overriding implied message: More research needed. But we already know the problems. It’s way past time to start addressing them.”
— Marion Nestle, NYU nutrition researcher (Politico/STAT)
“He might be right about food dyes, but the recommendations to alter our vaccine framework, restructure agencies, and promote meat and whole milk are going to promote disease, not health.”
— Aviva Musicus, Center for Science in the Public Interest (Politico/STAT)
“Who expected the MAHA report to do more to get whole milk in schools than to get UPF out?”
— Jerold Mande, Nourish Science (Politico/STAT)
The Pattern
This isn’t a blueprint. It’s a values document. And those values are clear:
- Soften on industry. Pesticides, food corporations, pharma marketing — the toughest ideas are voluntary.
- Harden on children. More barriers to care, fewer safety nets, SNAP cuts locked in.
- Elevate the fringe. EMFs, fluoride, vaccine “injuries” — amplified without evidence.
- Ignore the obvious. Guns, suicide, overdoses, pollution — absent.
What Comes Next
The White House insists this is just a draft; a final report is coming. But history tells us: expect cosmetic edits, not a course correction.
If the goal is to “make our children healthy again,” this draft shows us just how little Kennedy’s HHS is prepared to do. Education campaigns and rebranded food boxes will not change the trajectory of child mortality.
The crisis is real. The blueprint is not.