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The Department of Health and Human Services launched the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission with a 20-page plan proposing over 120 initiatives aimed at curbing the childhood chronic disease epidemic.
At first glance, the initiatives seem exceedingly reasonable. It includes a plan to define processed food, raise infant formula standards, improve food for military and veterans, reform Medicaid metrics for health improvement and continually evaluate chemical exposure as it relates to “children’s” health.
The strategy emphasizes voluntary collaboration and cultural messaging over regulatory enforcement. For now, it does not have a lot of teeth when it comes to enforcing new standards. Critics warn the plan lacks substance and may erode public health standards. But given that the U.S. is a leading nation in childhood obesity and has rising rates of childhood disease, how much weaker could those standards get?how much weaker could those standards get?
The Independent Medical Alliance praised the MAHA Strategy, calling it a “groundbreaking shift in federal health policy that prioritizes prevention, lifestyle, and transparency over pharmaceutical dependency.”