Making Our Children Healthy Again: What’s Going Wrong – and How We Can Fix It

American children are sicker than ever before. Despite having one of the most expensive healthcare systems in the world, the U.S. ranks last among developed nations in life expectancy and faces skyrocketing rates of childhood chronic illness. More than 40% of children in the U.S. suffer from at least one chronic condition—such as asthma, obesity, diabetes, ADHD, or food allergies. These rates are increasing at an alarming pace, and they’re not just hurting children—they’re weakening our economy, military readiness, and future workforce.

A recent report, part of the “Make Our Children Healthy Again” initiative launched by RFK Jr., is a call to action from the federal government. It lays out the main causes of this crisis and proposes a new direction for public health, focusing on prevention, better food, reduced environmental toxins, and less unnecessary medical treatment.

While the report was heavily criticized for lack of scientific rigor and coming from a politician more known for his unscientific conspiracy theories than for scientific knowledge and accuracy, it is a fairly good assessment of the current dire situation of public health in the US.

What’s Making Our Kids Sick?

Ultra-Processed Foods

As often pointed out in our newsletter and podcast, The Mind-Gut Conversation, kids today are eating more ultra processed food (UPF) than ever. Almost 70% of their calories come from products like packaged snacks, sugary drinks and fast food. These foods are high in sugar, salt, unhealthy fats and added chemicals—and low in nutrients and fiber. They’re designed to be addictive, often overriding the body’s natural ability to feel full, leading to overeating and weight gain.
Even though the term has been criticized by experts in the nutrition field, research links UPFs to a long list of health issues: obesity, diabetes, heart disease, ADHD, and even mental health problems. And it’s not just kids—pregnant women are also eating diets dominated by these foods, which can affect fetal development even before birth.

Environmental Chemicals

Children today are exposed to thousands of synthetic chemicals — from chemicals used extensively in industrial agriculture (pesticides, herbicides) and plastics to food additives, food dyes and air pollutants. These exposures happen in prenatally, in their homes, in food, and even in drinking water with significant variations related to socioeconomic background. The less affluent you are in America, the more you are exposed to these harmful factors. Some of these chemicals have been linked to developmental delays, cancer, hormone disruption, and immune system problems.

Development of the nervous system, the immune system and the gut microbiome are especially vulnerable during critical growth periods like pregnancy, early childhood (“the first thousand days of life”), and puberty. Yet, regulations around chemical safety often fall short, and the combined effect of multiple exposures is rarely studied.

Digital Overload and Lifestyle Changes

Modern childhood is far less active than in previous generations. Today’s kids are spending an average of 9 hours a day on screens (outside school), not getting enough exercise or sleep, and facing rising levels of stress, loneliness, and anxiety. This shift from active play and social interaction to screen-based entertainment is harming both physical and emotional well-being.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety and depression were becoming more common in children and adolescents. The disruption of schooling and social connections during the pandemic, has led to further increased anxiety and mental health challenges for many children. In addition to the pandemic, increased academic pressure and global uncertainty are also cited as contributing factors to the rise in anxiety.

Studies show that reported rates of anxiety disorders in youth have increased over the past decade. For example, one study showed a 27% increase in anxiety and a 24% increase in depression among children and adolescents from 2016 to 2019.

Overmedication

U.S. children are being prescribed more medications than ever before — often unnecessarily. Rates of prescriptions for antidepressants, antipsychotics, antibiotics, and ADHD medications have surged, with questionable long-term benefits. ADHD stimulant prescriptions increased by 250% from 2006 to 2016. For example, antidepressant use among teens rose 1,400% since the late 1980s. Over 35% of antibiotics are prescribed to treat viral infections (for which antibiotics are ineffective), increasing risks of microbiome alterations predisposing to allergies and autoimmune diseases.

The Bigger Problem: Systems That Put Profit Over Health

This health crisis didn’t happen by accident. The MAHA report suggests that corporate influence — from food and agricultural companies to pharmaceutical giants and the medical industrial complex—has shaped government policy through massive lobbying efforts, research, and even medical practice. For example, the food industry spends billions on research and advertisements that favor processed foods. Pharmaceutical companies fund large portions of medical education and regulatory decisions. Many top decision-makers in government agencies later go to work for the industries they once regulated.

Alarming Health Trends in Numbers

• Obesity: Over 1 in 5 children are obese today, compared to just 1 in 20 in the 1970s.
• Diabetes: Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are on the rise. Over 350,000 kids have diabetes.
• Autism: Rates increased from 1 in 10,000 in 1960 to 1 in 31 today.
• ADHD: Diagnoses are up significantly; over 10% of children are affected.
• Mental Health: Depression and suicide rates among teens have surged. 1 in 4 teen girls reported major depression in 2022.
• Allergies and Autoimmune Disorders: Over 25% of children now have allergies; rates of celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease are rising in younger age groups.

The MAHA Commission under RFK’s leadership calls for a complete rethinking of how we protect and promote children’s health, proposals that have been recommended for years by non-profits and leading nutritional scientists. Some of the key actions proposed include:

• Putting whole foods first: Shift food policy to support farmers who grow real, nutrient-dense food instead of subsidizing chemical agriculture growing corn, which fuels the production of high-fructose corn syrup, and reduce reliance on ultra-processed products.
• Reforming chemical safety rules: Require stronger testing and transparency around chemical exposures, especially for vulnerable populations like pregnant women and children.
• Encouraging physical activity and mental well-being: Promote healthier digital habits, better sleep, and more opportunities for outdoor play and social connection.
• Reevaluating medication practices: Focus on root causes rather than symptom management and increase access to behavioral and lifestyle interventions.

Conclusions

American children are facing a public health crisis—one that demands urgent, science-based, and bold responses. This assessment makes clear that diet, environment, technology, and medicine are deeply interwoven in our children’s health outcomes. Solving the crisis will require political will, public awareness, and a shift in national priorities—from profit-driven systems to child-centered solutions. We have the knowledge and tools to turn this around. The nonprofit, Eat Real, under the leadership of Nora LaTorre has demonstrated that such a turnaround is possible. Now we need the leadership and commitment to make our children healthy again.

TWO big questions remain:

1. Are the people behind this movement, in particular the notorious science adversary and conspiracy theorist RFK Jr., and his consultants really the right leaders to accomplish this task?
2. Will the required policy changes survive the massive opposition of the entrenched interests of Big Ag, and the lobbies of Big Pharma and the medical industrial complex?

Regardless of the outcome, the fact that the topic of children’s health has come into national focus is already a big step forward.