New Commission Proposes Sweeping Changes to Diet, Healthcare, and Environmental Policy
In a major push to address the rising crisis of childhood chronic diseases, the Trump administration has unveiled a comprehensive strategy based on findings from the "Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment."
The report, submitted by the President's Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission, outlines a multifaceted approach to transform the nation's health landscape for its youngest citizens.
The strategy, informed by an executive order signed by President Trump on February 13, 2025, identifies four key drivers behind the health crisis: poor diet, chemical exposure, lack of physical activity, and overmedicalization.
The report notes that over 60% of children's calories now come from highly processed foods, and highlights concerns about increasing synthetic chemical exposure and unprecedented levels of inactivity and chronic stress.
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The MAHA Commission's recommendations are organized into four strategic pillars: Advancing Research, Realigning Incentives and Systems, Increasing Public Awareness, and Fostering Private Sector Collaboration.
Advancing Research to Drive Innovation
The strategy calls for a new era of scientific inquiry, led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). A new "Whole-Person-Health" initiative will focus on prevention and wellness, while a Real World Data Platform (RWDP) will integrate vast datasets -- from electronic health records to wearable data -- to accelerate research.
The plan also emphasizes the use of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), which use human-relevant models like organoids to improve prevention and personalized treatment. Specific research priorities include studying the root causes of autism, investigating vaccine injuries, and evaluating the health impacts of microplastics, air quality, and electromagnetic radiation.
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Realigning Incentives and Systems
This pillar focuses on policy reforms and deregulation to encourage healthier outcomes. Proposed actions include:
Dietary Guidelines: Updating the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans to prioritize whole foods and minimize highly processed options. Food Reform: Limiting the use of petroleum-based food dyes, defining and assessing "Ultra-processed Foods," and reforming the "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS) designation to close existing loopholes. Medical Policy: Increasing oversight of direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising, especially on social media, and promoting competition in medical school accreditation to enhance nutrition education. Deregulation: Streamlining processes for organic certification and local food sales, and removing restrictions on whole milk sales in schools to allow for consumer choice.
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Increasing Public Awareness and Knowledge
The administration plans to launch a national campaign to empower parents and children with information.
This will include a "Make American Schools Healthy Again" initiative to promote physical activity and better nutrition. The Surgeon General is slated to lead awareness campaigns on the health impacts of screen time, vaping, alcohol, and controlled substances. The plan also includes a return to the Presidential Fitness Test in schools to encourage physical activity.
Fostering Private Sector Collaboration
The final pillar aims to partner with the private sector to accelerate innovation.
The strategy outlines collaborations to improve access to healthy foods in government-funded programs, such as school lunches and VA hospital meals, and to work with restaurants to offer healthier children's options.
A new challenge competition, the "HHS Root Causes of Infertility Award," seeks private sector solutions to address chronic reproductive health issues. The plan also incentivizes farmers to adopt sustainable practices that improve soil health and promotes precision agriculture technologies to reduce pesticide use.
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