Make America Healthy Again

President Trump established the MAHA Commission by Executive Order on February 13, 2025. The commission is chaired by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and includes other Trump officials, including secretary of education Linda McMahon and director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought. Vince Haley, director of the United States Domestic Policy Council, is executive director. The order directed the commission to examine the "prevalence of and threat posed by the prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and weight-loss drugs" within 100 days. The commission was also tasked with researching childhood diseases and mental disorders, including autism. A few days after the announcement of the Executive Order, Kennedy stated that he would use the commission to critically assess childhood vaccine schedules and psychiatric medicines. Kennedy privately convened the committee's inaugural meeting in mid-March. MAHA Assessment The commission released the MAHA Assessment report on May 22, 2025. It addresses what the commission sees as the four main causes of health problems in children: poor diet, environmental chemicals, lack of physical activity and stress, and overmedicalization. According to The New York Times, Nancy Beck, the principal deputy assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency overseeing the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, pushed to restrain mentions of pesticides in the commission's report. The Wall Street Journal reported that Kennedy's criticisms of pesticides drew ire from some Trump officials. Analysis of the MAHA Assessment report revealed multiple references to non-existent studies and authors, suggestive of the use of artificial intelligence, as well as mischaracterizations of the conclusions of real sources. MAHA Strategy The Department of Health and Human Services announced the release of the "Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy" report on September 9, 2025. The Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy is another part of EO 14212. The strategy document lists specific actions to implement findings of the MAHA report released in May 2025. == Policy ==

Water fluoridation Water fluoridation, the controlled addition of fluoride to public water supplies to reduce tooth decay, is one of the concerns of the MAHA movement. The public health practice reduces cavities in children and has been praised by dentists and public health experts. The World Health Organization, FDI World Dental Federation, American Dental Association (ADA), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state that water fluoridation is safe and effective; it is regarded as one of the ten greatest public health achievements of the 20th century by the CDC. A majority of dental experts, including the ADA and CDC, disagree with Kennedy's views on water fluoridation. The same month, HH&S halted a clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine pill. In June, Kennedy fired all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and appointed several prominent anti-vaccine activists. Increased anti-vaccine rhetoric by Kennedy and MAHA was tied to increased outbreaks of measles and vaccine-preventable diseases. Following the FDA's ban on Red dye No. 3 in January 2025, Kennedy announced that the FDA would be focusing on removing petroleum-based artificial food dyes from the American food supply by 2026. MAHA frequently criticizes glyphosate, The appropriations bill passed to end the 2025 United States federal government shutdown included provisions to eliminate rules preventing foodborne illnesses at farms and restaurants and limit the creation of rules regulating ultra-processed foods, which was noted to be in opposition to the administration's MAHA movement. MAHA has campaigned against the consumption of seed oils and made misleading statements about their health effects. Kennedy has commented that "seed oils are one of the most unhealthy ingredients that we have in foods". MAHA promotes beef tallow as an alternative to seed oils. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program In 2025, both Kennedy and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins support preventing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients from using benefits for "processed foods and candy". Since that announcement, four states, West Virginia, Idaho, Arkansas, and Indiana submitted waivers to overhaul SNAP benefits in their states to restrict usage of benefits for "candy and soda". Animal testing In late 2025, Kennedy announced that phasing out animal testing would be a component of the movement. Kennedy stated he was "deeply committed to ending animal experimentation," advocating for a shift toward alternative research methods. As part of this initiative, Kennedy called for an end to the importation of monkeys for research and pushed for the retirement of primates currently used in laboratories. While the proposal garnered support from animal welfare advocates, it reportedly caused concern within the biomedical research community regarding the potential impact on drug development and medical innovation. == Reception ==

A survey conducted in January 2025 by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed that 30 percent of Americans supported Kennedy's health agenda compared to 42 percent who disapproved, with support among conservatives being significantly higher. MAHA has been criticized by the mainstream medical community and news outlets, who have said that MAHA mixes promotion of healthy living with public health conspiracy theories, citing the movement's close ties to the anti-vaccine community. Critics have characterized the movement as a cult, with The New Yorker describing Kennedy as being viewed as a faith healer who "should not be criticized; a vast conspiracy threatens the movement; triumph is ongoing, even if the movement's crusade against dangerous pesticides and heavy metals in the soil and drinking water has culminated in the election of a President who apparently loves all that stuff". The New York Times described it as attracting a loose coalition of health-conscious moms, men's rights activists, and some environmental groups. It described traditional environmentalists as being "wary" of MAHA's controversial positions on vaccines and other issues. A study of MAHA-related posts on social media found that the movement started overwhelmingly positive, but experienced a substantial decline following Kennedy's nomination (2024-11-14), subsequent confirmation (2025-02-13), and the introduction of MAHA-aligned legislation in Texas (2025-03-03), ultimately reaching a point at which opposition outweighed support on social media. Proposals of the movement, such as the increased regulation of food and pharmaceutical companies, received some early bipartisan support in late 2024 and early 2025, and were praised by Democratic Colorado governor Jared Polis and independent Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, despite both Polis and Sanders objecting to Kennedy's views on vaccines. Sanders called Kennedy's stance on the food industry "exactly correct" but described his broader health views as "extremely dangerous". In May 2025, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) criticized MAHA for citing sources in the report that did not exist. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday that the citation errors were due to "formatting issues" and did not "negate the substance of the report." The errors were later updated. The DNC also referred to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a conspiracy theorist, arguing that with his help, "Donald Trump is putting millions of Americans' health care and safety at risk." By late 2025, Politico reported that increasing measles outbreaks and Kennedy and MAHA's anti-vaccine views were polling poorly with the public, with an October KFF poll showing 40% of parents who identified with MAHA did not trust Kennedy to give reliable information on vaccines, compared to 75% of non-MAHA supporting parents. It described efforts by Democratic politicians to paint Kennedy as a "boogeyman" and use MAHA's views against Republicans in the 2026 elections, especially after such attacks appeared to contribute to the Democratic victory during the 2025 New Jersey gubernatorial election. ==Impact==

In October 2025, an Associated Press investigation found over 420 anti-science and anti-vaccine bills introduced in statehouses nationwide. It described the bills as being pushed by well-organized and funded groups attached to Kennedy, MAHA, and promoted by individuals within the Trump administration. At least one of four groups were attached to the majority of the bills promoted: MAHA Action, Stand for Health Freedom, the National Vaccine Information Center and the Weston A. Price Foundation. The groups were noted to be run by staff closely connected to Kennedy, and Kennedy's former group Children's Health Defense sponsored events run by NVIC and Weston Price. NVIC's research director was chosen as a new member when Kennedy purged the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The report noted that cases of whooping cough and measles were making comebacks as vaccination rates fell as a result of anti-vaccine rhetoric pushed by MAHA and Kennedy. == See also ==