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White House focuses on food, chemicals and overtreatment in report about childhood diseases

White House focuses on food, chemicals and overtreatment in report about childhood diseases

On Thursday, a commission headed by U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released a report in which it stated that processed foods, chemicals, stress, and the overprescription and vaccinations and medications may be contributing factors to chronic illnesses among American children.

Kennedy said that the report of the commission was "a call to action to act urgently to stop this crisis". This crisis is characterized by an increase in childhood obesity, diabetes and cancer rates, as well as mental disorders, allergies, and neurodevelopmental disorders such autism.

It did not recommend specific regulations or restrictions for pesticides in agriculture, as some farming groups had feared. However, it did draw attention to studies that linked health disorders in animals and humans with the weedkillers glyphosate, and atrazine. The report said that the chemicals needed to be researched further.

Bayer, the company involved in thousands lawsuits involving its herbicide Roundup containing glyphosate, has said that some of the details in this report are not "fact-based".

Bayer stated that "we believe a fact-driven and data driven approach, with robust science following international gold standards, is necessary to support this important initiative."

The report reiterated Kennedy's previous statements that highly-processed foods and additives pose health risks, and that the food and beverage industry has too much influence in forming public health recommendations such as the Dietary Guidelines.

At a press event, he stated that there was consensus on the need to prioritise what he termed as the crisis of ultra-processed foods.

The American Soybean Association criticized the report for being "drafted completely behind closed doors", and incorrectly suggesting that pesticides or soy oil contribute to negative health outcomes.

We're discouraging the consumption of heart-healthy oil and forcing people to use fats which will make them unhealthy and cost more. "This is exactly the opposite of what government should do," said Alan Meadows, ASA Director and soybean farmer.

The report also criticizes the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule, stating that the number of vaccinations recommended for American children is higher than many European countries.

It stated that the effects of vaccine injuries and the link between vaccines, chronic diseases should be investigated. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic for years, has pushed theories that are contrary to science about vaccine safety.

FARM LOBBY SUBSTANCE PRESSURE

The policy prescriptions are due in August after the report on Thursday.

In February, President Donald Trump issued an executive order establishing the Make America Healthy Again Commission. The commission will investigate chronic illnesses and develop an action plan for combating childhood diseases.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and White House jointly manage the commission, with Kennedy as its chairman and the chief of the Domestic Policy Council as its executive director. It includes Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, other cabinet members and federal health agency heads as well as senior White House officials.

Farm lobby groups warned before the report was published that criticizing certain farm practices would impede collaboration with the health agenda of the administration and could put food production in danger.

A source with knowledge of the issue said that the lobby groups were very insistent on the administration not to mention pesticides.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Lee Zeldin told reporters on a conference call that farmers were key partners in the MAHA agenda, and that any change to pesticide regulations should be carefully considered.

He said that "American farmers depend on these products and any further regulation or restrictions of crop protection tools must take into consideration the costs and benefits of adequate protection and alternatives," as well as risk-based scientific processes. Kennedy worked with attorneys from Wisner Baum to win a $289m verdict in 2018 for a Californian man diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma because he used Roundup regularly as part of his job. The verdict was reduced later to $20.5million.

Kennedy also claimed that he had been involved in at least two cases against Roundup maker Monsanto which was acquired Bayer.

The report recommended that as a next step, there be a greater focus on drug safety and research and improved surveillance of drugs and their effects on childhood health. It also called for clinical studies to compare the whole-food and processed-food diets among children.

The report says that ultra-processed foods, which it describes as industrially-manufactured food products, are associated with poor health. The report cites infant food as an ultraprocessed product that is worrying, saying that more parents are buying European brands.

MAHA activists are concerned about certain oils used in infant formula. However, these ingredients provide important fats.

(source: Reuters)