MAHA Commission strategy targets childhood chronic disease

The Make America Healthy Again Commission, created earlier this year by President Trump and led by Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kennedy to address the childhood chronic disease epidemic, released its Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy.

Reminder: The assessment report released in May had identified four potential drivers behind the rise in childhood chronic disease – poor diet, chemical exposure, lack of physical activity and chronic stress, and overmedicalization.

The basics: The strategy outlines an approach for addressing these issues through advancing research, realigning incentives, increasing public awareness, and fostering private sector collaborations.

The details: The strategy includes more than 120 initiatives, including:

• Substance use awareness + restricting access: The Surgeon General will launch an education and awareness initiative on the impact of alcohol, controlled substances, vaping, and THC on children’s health. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives will increase enforcement and public awareness on illegal vaping products. FDA will also educate the public on the dangers of synthetic opioid products such as 7-OH and coordinate enforcement against dangerous unlawful products being marketed to children. FDA will update OxyContin labeling to warn patients and consumers about the dangers of chronic use.
• Naloxone: HHS will launch a national initiative to train staff in school-based health centers and public libraries on how to recognize and respond to opioid overdoses and will fund naloxone.
• Pediatric mental health care: HHS will ensure the Pediatric Mental Health Care Access Program at Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is effective at providing access to pediatric mental health professionals. The program will work to educate and empower good nutrition, physical activity, and mental wellbeing. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will work with state CHIP programs to promote evidence-based prevention and wellness initiatives for children and will develop quality measures that promote children’s health outcomes rather than just health care utilization.
• Screentime: The Surgeon General will launch an education and awareness initiative on the effect of screens on children and the actions being taken by states to limit screentime at school. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will direct funding for research on mental health and addiction, with a special focus on screentime in children and adolescents.
• Overmedicalization: HHS will form a mental health diagnosis and prescription working group to evaluate prescription patterns for SSRIs, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and other relevant drugs for children. HHS will also evaluate the therapeutic harms and benefits of current diagnostic thresholds, over-prescription trends, and solutions that can be scaled up to improve mental health, including through school-based interventions, diet, and foster care services. CMS will collaborate with states on prescribing guidelines and utilization management requirements (i.e., prior authorization) “to address the overuse of medications in school-age children – particularly for conditions such as ADHD.” NIH will conduct research, including using Veterans Administration data to inform national strategies on early intervention, appropriate care utilization, and mental health policy.

Read more: Kennedy makes his formal pitch to fight chronic disease in new MAHA report; RFK Jr.’s new MAHA roadmap is finally public