Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) releases alarming report on the health of American children
While budgets for HHS, NIH, and NSF are slashed, RFK Jr. says, “People need to do their own research.”
Report identifies role of PFAS as a contributor to the rise in chronic diseases among American children.
By Pat Elder
June 2, 2025
“I’m going to let him go wild on health. I’m going to let him go wild on the food. I’m going to let him go wild on the medicines,” President Trump said during the presidential campaign. See the MAHA Report here.
Mainstream media outlets have widely dismissed the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) report, released by Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on May 23, 2025, as pseudo-science. However, a closer examination of the 73-page document—coupled with a recognition of Kennedy’s long-standing reputation as a leading environmental advocate—reveals a sobering and urgently relevant analysis of the declining state of childhood health in the United States.
In a level of candor rarely seen in federal government publications, the MAHA report delivers a blunt warning: the health of American children is in crisis. Despite criticism from both liberal and conservative quarters, the report presents a stark indictment of children’s health. “Despite outspending peer nations by more than double per capita on healthcare, the United States ranks last in life expectancy among high-income countries—and suffers higher rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes,” it states.
Kennedy pulls no punches. The report outlines the severity of the childhood health crisis and identifies four key drivers fueling the alarming rise in chronic disease among children:
Poor Diet
Synergistic Impact of Environmental Chemicals
Lack of Physical Activity and Chronic Stress
Overmedicalization
We’ll examine Section II, The Cumulative Load of Chemicals in our Environment. We’ll survey chemicals and diseases through the prism of the lessons we’ve learned from studying PFAS.
The report highlights a study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine showing that PFAS exposure has been associated with immune suppression in children. It’s a big deal.
We must understand immune suppression. It is the inhibition of the immune system’s ability to fight disease, and it can manifest itself in a hundred deadly ways. Children are sicker today and many are born with problems. Of course, it’s not just the PFAS. It is the synergistic effect of mostly unregulated immune compromising toxins that are prevalent in our food, water, dust, and air.
The MAHA report warns that regulatory agencies in the U.S. and around the world largely evaluate chemicals individually and may be neglecting potential synergistic effects and cumulative burdens. This report is nothing short of revolutionary, especially coming from the highest levels of the U.S. government.
This truth-telling is accompanied by harsh political realities. The White House budget document released in early May includes a 26.2% reduction in funding for Kennedy’s Department of Health and Human Services. The Trump budget also calls for cutting spending by 37% at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and more than 50% at the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
In August 2024, Kennedy sought a meeting with Kamala Harris to discuss the possibility of becoming a cabinet secretary under her administration. However, Harris and her advisers did not respond to the outreach. Kennedy was on a mission to communicate how and why American health is declining.
Kennedy’s MAHA report makes a stunning diagnosis, but it has a lousy treatment plan. Kennedy has said several times that people should be skeptical about any medical advice. He says people need to do their own research.
We must step back for a minute to understand who Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is before we can judge the merits of the MAHA report.
Kennedy spent decades working with organizations like the Natural Resources Defense Council and Riverkeeper. He argues that corporations that pollute or exploit natural resources should be held legally and financially accountable.
He has spoken out opposing government surveillance and censorship. Kennedy says that U.S. democracy is controlled by corporate and elite interests. He left the Democratic Party in 2023 to run for president as an independent, arguing both major parties are beholden to corporate dollars.
Kennedy worked with South American tribes to stop harmful large-scale energy and extractive projects. Kennedy sued the U.S. Navy on behalf of fishermen and residents of Vieques, an island of Puerto Rico, to stop weapons testing, bombing, and other military exercises that cause tremendous environmental and human harm. In 1999, Kennedy founded the nonprofit environmental group Waterkeeper Alliance. Kennedy’s heart is in the right place. We mustn’t throw the Kennedy baby out with the bathwater.
RFK Jr. says that people should be skeptical about medical advice and that people need to do their own research. This is preposterous, yet defensible, considering current political realities.
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Please support our work. We are raising money to pay for environmental testing in the fall at the highly contaminated Fort Ord, California. We have compiled a database of 1,800 people who lived at Fort Ord and who have been sickened or have died as a result of their cancers and diseases.
We’ve raised $7,500 so far and we’d like to double this amount. The Army says the old base, where development is rampant, is completely safe, but we don’t trust them. We hope to test for volatile organic compounds, dioxin, depleted uranium, PFAS, and other contaminants in air, water, and soil. Please help us! See the Fort Ord Contamination website.
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Kennedy’s message is that people must learn to protect themselves. He didn’t sell his soul to the devil. This was his only ticket to ride. The Trump budget has decimated funding for public health while the federal government is telling us it is our individual responsibility to protect our own health from environmental toxins. It’s a fair game in a dystopian world.
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MAHA Films presents Toxic Nation – The Movie
Autism. Autoimmune. Obesity. Infertility. Cancer. All at the same time. All rising. All connected. And the agencies meant to protect us? They sold us out for profit.
Toxic Nation is licensed by RFK JR.'s MAHA Brand to expose what’s been lurking in the shadows...
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The MAHA Report
Make America Healthy Again: “Today’s children are the sickest generation in American history in terms of chronic disease and these preventable trends continue to worsen each year, posing a threat to our nation’s health, economy, and military readiness.”
According to the MAHA report, there is growing concern about the link between environmental health risks, particularly cumulative, synergistic risks -- and chronic disease.
The rates of neurodevelopmental disorders are increasing at an alarming rate! The report identifies a dozen childhood-related diseases and disorders and points to the cumulative load of chemicals in our environment.
The cumulative effect of multiple chemical exposures and their impact on children over time is not fully understood, although we understand enough to be terrified.
The MAHA report cited comparisons between industry-funded research versus non-industry studies that have noted the biases in corporate-funded research. These disparities are potentially due to bias in study design and reporting, along with publication bias favoring positive findings about certain chemicals in academic research. Such biases amplify potential discrepancies in the literature and limit the scientific publication of unfavorable results.
PFAS
An artist’s rendition of Per Fluoro Octane Sulfonate, (PFOS)
The MAHA report mentions confidential documents “from industry leaders” revealing that the PFAS industry focused on suppressing unfavorable research and distorting public discourse, effectively delaying public awareness of its dangers. This is from the highest levels of the United States government, so things have changed.
The MAHA report never mentions 3M, a company that manufactured PFAS-laden aqueous film-forming foam, (AFFF).
3M has been lying about PFAS to the American public for two generations. In 2023, 3M reached a $10.3 billion settlement with public water systems to address PFAS contamination. The settlement doesn’t go far enough and leaves out contamination of our food and air.
Meanwhile, several epidemiological studies have found associations between higher PFAS levels during pregnancy and:
Reduced cognitive or behavioral scores in children
Delays in language development or attention
Changes in brain structure or function
The MAHA report stops short of specifically identifying how PFAS interacts with a host of environmental toxins that sicken children, so we’ll look at some of these relationships.
We know PFAS interact synergistically with a wide range of environmental pollutants, amplifying their harmful effects on human health. Co-contaminants include a lethal stew of heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and chromium.
When combined with PFAS, these metals may exhibit enhanced toxicity, particularly affecting the liver, kidneys, and nervous system, and may alter each other’s levels of bioaccumulation.
PFAS also interact with persistent organic pollutants like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, and furans. These combinations can lead to more severe endocrine disruption, immune system suppression, and increased risks of cancer.
Additionally, PFAS may further empower various pesticides, including organophosphates (like chlorpyrifos), organochlorines (like DDT), and glyphosate, found in the popular weed killer, Round Up.
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA) also work in concert with PFAS to further disrupt hormonal pathways, particularly those involving thyroid and reproductive function.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like benzene, toluene, and xylene may exhibit compounded respiratory and immune toxicity when combined with PFAS exposure, especially in indoor environments. Lastly, PFAS can adsorb onto microplastic surfaces, facilitating their transport through ecosystems and potentially increasing their bioavailability and toxicity.
Tell an American doctor! They are poorly trained in this regard.
This is frightening!
We’ll briefly examine an outline of the MAHA report’s indictment of children’s health by associating each disease or disorder mentioned with their associations to PFAS. Statements in Bold are from the report.
● In 1960, autism occurred in less than 1 in 10,000 children. Today it impacts 1 in 31 children by age 8.
Research suggests possible associations between exposure to PFAS and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), particularly when exposure occurs during critical periods such as pregnancy and early childhood. PFAS may interfere with thyroid hormone function and immune system development.
● Over 10% of children have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), with approximately 1 million more children diagnosed in 2022 compared to 2016.
Several epidemiological studies have reported that higher prenatal or early-life exposure to PFAS may be associated with an increased risk of ADHD diagnosis in children. PFAS interfere with neurodevelopment, including effects on neurotransmitter systems, such as dopamine regulation, which is central to ADHD.
● Rates of other neurodevelopmental disorders and learning impairments are also increasing. Over 7.5 million K-12 students received special education services in 2023-24.
Several epidemiological studies have reported correlations between higher PFAS levels, and an increased risk of learning or developmental delays, including language impairments, cognitive deficits, and reduced academic performance. These associations are especially notable when exposure occurs prenatally or during early childhood.
● Childhood cancer incidence has risen over 40% since 1975
Studies have reported associations between higher PFAS exposure in communities near contaminated water sources at industrial and military sites and increased risks of specific childhood cancers, such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Wilms tumor (a rare kidney cancer), and testicular cancer in young males.
● Teenage depression rates nearly doubled from 2009 to 2019, with more than 1 in 4 teenage girls in 2022 reporting a major depressive episode in the past year.
Several studies have found that higher levels of PFAS in blood may be associated with increased symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other mood disturbances in adolescents.
● Three million high school students seriously considered suicide in 2023.
PFAS may affect neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, and stress response pathways all of which are involved in mood regulation and suicidal behavior. Research suggests PFAS exposure may contribute to anxiety and depression.
● The prevalence of diagnosed anxiety increased by 61% among adolescents between 2016 and 2023.
Several studies have found that higher levels of PFAS measured in children and adolescents are linked to increased reports of anxiety, worry, and related emotional disturbances.
● Today, over 1 in 4 American children suffers from allergies, including seasonal allergies, eczema, and food allergies.
Studies have reported that higher PFAS blood levels—especially from prenatal or early-life exposure—are associated with a greater likelihood of developing food allergies or other allergic conditions like eczema and asthma.
● Celiac disease rates have increased 5-fold in American children since the 1980s.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder triggered by the ingestion of gluten in genetically susceptible individuals, and it involves an inappropriate immune response that damages the small intestine. Research suggests an association between PFAS exposure in early life and celiac disease.
● Rates of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), including Crohn’s, have increased by 25% over the last decade.
Studies among populations with high PFAS exposure have found associations between PFAS levels and increased risk of Inflammatory bowel disease, IBD, especially ulcerative colitis. PFAS is also associated with Crohn’s disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease.
PFAS is the common thread in many of the things that make us sick.
The MAHA report identifies toxic exposure pathways that threaten our children. The report says exposure to toxic substances begin at conception and continue throughout childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood, accumulating over time. The placenta and umbilical cord do not serve as impenetrable barriers; they allow hundreds of industrial chemicals and pollutants to reach the developing fetus. Even minor exposures during critical periods—in utero, infancy, early childhood, and adolescence—can result in developmental delays or permanent harm. Babies cannot detoxify chemicals as effectively as adults, allowing chemicals to accumulate in their delicate little bodies.
Poisoned even before Birth - Environmental Working Group.
The MAHA report sounds the alarm regarding endocrine disrupting chemicals that threaten fetal development, posing life-long challenges for innocent souls.
Consider this frightening list of toxic pathways to children listed in the report:
● Virtually every breastmilk sample tested in America contains some level of persistent organic pollutants.
● Infants and toddlers ingest much more household dust than adults, much of which contains detectable levels of lead, flame retardants, and pesticide residues.
● With infants putting their hands and objects in their mouths nearly ten times per hour, they are frequently ingesting invisible contaminants.
● The EPA demonstrated the widespread presence of pesticides in U.S. homes, with almost 90% showing measurable levels of at least one insecticide on their floors.
The MAHA report continues:
Children are exposed to numerous chemicals, such as heavy metals, PFAS, pesticides, and phthalates, via their diet, textiles, indoor air pollutants, and consumer products. Children’s unique behaviors and developmental physiology make them particularly vulnerable to potential adverse health effects from these cumulative exposures, many of which have no historical precedent in our environment or biology.
One word: “Plastics.” - The Graduate, 1967.
More from the report:
“Microplastics: plastic fragments less than 5 millimeters in size used frequently in products such as clothing, medicine, and shower gels. A study in 2025 showed that the concentration found in Americans’ brain tissue increased by 50% between 2016 and 2024. Some studies have additionally found that microplastics often carry endocrine-disrupting chemicals that interfere with hormonal development and potentially trigger early puberty— especially in girls—and heighten the risks of obesity, infertility, and hormone-related cancers.”
The report did not mention that microplastics can also adsorb PFAS from contaminated water, soil, or air, effectively acting as carriers for these carcinogens.
“Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR): an exposure due to the proliferation of cell phones, Wi-Fi routers, cell towers, and wearables. Some studies have linked EMR exposure to reduced sperm counts and motility but not quality. The NIH’s National Toxicology Program identified “clear evidence” of DNA damage and increased cancer risk in rats. However, a recent systematic review of over 50 studies found low to inadequate evidence on impact in children and called for more high-quality research.”
The Environmental Health Trust criticized this single bullet point on electropollution, pointing out an error. “The statement says that ‘some studies have linked EMR exposure to reduced sperm counts and motility but not quality.’ Certainly, by affecting sperm counts and motility, sperm quality is affected. The authors of the paper cited specify in their abstract that sperm quality data includes sperm density, motility, viability, morphology, and DNA fragmentation. This same bullet point on EMR references a study by the NIH citing “clear evidence of DNA damage and increased cancer risk in rats,” but goes on to temper that with a 2022 systematic review on the health effects of EMR exposure on children which excludes studies including time spent on devices such as mobile phones and tablets.
“Phthalates: used primarily to make plastics more flexible, durable, and long-lasting, are found in vinyl flooring, food packaging, dust, personal care products, medical devices, and synthetic fabrics. Research shows continuous exposure to certain phthalates can trigger hormone dysregulation and reproductive and developmental problems for babies in-utero and infants.”
While some phthalates like DEHP, DBP, and BBP are already restricted in children’s products, others such as DINP, DIDP, DnOP, DiBP, DnBP, and DCHP are still widely used, despite grave concerns. These chemicals have been linked to hormone disruption, developmental issues, and reproductive toxicity. (Is humanity doomed?)
Like PFAS, regulators are playing a casual game of whack-a-mole. All the focus is on PFOS and PFOA while the industry develops suitable toxic substitutes. There’s a wink and a nod between regulator and regulated and this is what the environmental health revolutionary Kennedy is all about.
Crop Protection Tools including pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides:
Although Kennedy has been actively opposing glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, for over a decade, the MAHA report is weak on this account.. Here’s how they frame the issue:
“Some studies have raised concerns about possible links between some of these products and adverse health outcomes, especially in children, but human studies are limited. For example, a selection of research studies on a herbicide (glyphosate) have noted a range of possible health effects, ranging from reproductive and developmental disorders as well as cancers, liver inflammation and metabolic disturbances.”
Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the weed killer, Roundup. Bayer owns Monsanto, the producer of Roundup. Glyphosate is associated with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. At the same time, Bayer markets treatments for Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. What’s in your mutual funds?
The DoD employs glyphosate-containing products such as Roundup, Pro/Ranger, Quik Pro, Pro/Razor, and Pro/Glyfos. See the Armed Forces Pest Management Board (AFPMB) Standard Pesticides List.
The Kennedy report only addresses two herbicides - Glyphosate, and Atrazine, primarily manufactured by Syngenta. The DOD has reported high levels of Atrazine in groundwater and soil at bases, but the toxin does not appear on the infamous pesticides list.
The MAHA report says Atrazine can cause endocrine disruption and birth defects. Atrazine is most commonly applied to corn crops to prevent weed growth. See NRDC’s Still Poisoning the Well.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.) have raised concerns that the MAHA report could lead to stricter regulations on atrazine and glyphosate.
Military use of pesticides is ghastly
Pesticides used at Fort Ord, California, 1917-1994. The DOD has always regulated itself.
Fort Ord, California is the poster child for military pesticides. The public record reflects the use of these deadly agents to control weeds and pests on the highly contaminated Army base.
Some of these agents may stick around in the soil for generations and they may poison groundwater. Wherever there is a military base we should not be surprised to see some of these pesticides being used, fouling water, soil, and air, and threatening the unborn.
Agent Orange was made of a 50-50 mixture of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. The 2,4,5-T contained dioxin which is in a killing league of its own. It was banned in 1979
2,4-D is still widely available in sprays at hardware stores today. 2,4-D has been associated with serious health problems, including Parkinson's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and reproductive issues, however, it’s manufacture is highly profitable. Some studies have shown that 2,4-D can cause DNA strand breaks, chromosomal aberrations, and other forms of genotoxicity. When you spray weeds you may be impacting your progeny forever. All lawns should be chemical free.
The Kennedy report left all of this out, but it is to be praised for lifting the heavy rock off of a few creepy crawly things.
Although the highest levels of the U.S. government stop short of directly confronting their corporate benefactors for endangering humanity, they are, at the very least, starting to acknowledge the issue.
The following radical perspective is not from Jacobin or Monthly Review. Rather, it is from the Kennedy MAHA Report under a very brief section called Laws and Regulations. The report says, “Corporate influence stretches beyond extensive involvement in scientific research to include active governmental lobbying. More than ten thousand chemicals listed on EPA’s inventory are designated as confidential and generic chemical names are used to identify them.”
Perhaps we have the dawning of a kind of benevolent dictatorship. The Trump administration is allowing certain truths to be told. Remember Secretary Kennedy’s advice, “People should also be skeptical about any medical advice. They need to do their own research.”
Of course, this is preposterous. It is a frightening dawn we face, but regular folks must learn how to protect themselves. This is what the radical Kennedy is telling us.
People must learn from credible non-profit sources of the environmental risks they face. The public must radically change its purchasing habits and living patterns.
For instance, the dust in our homes is carcinogenic so we should not be sweeping it into the air. Changing a vacuum cleaner bag is a toxic undertaking. Changing air filters ought to be a regular occurrence. Grocery shopping must become a venture into scientific scrutiny to determine the least poisoned fruits, vegetables, and prepared foods.
Individuals must seriously undertake actions to become aware of the levels of toxins in their water, soil, food, and air. They must take steps to safeguard their own health.
It is a Brave New World. Take care of yourself.