If the “Make America Healthy Again” slogan were being promoted by a conventional secretary running the Department of Health and Human Services, one might consider it an aspirational effort to encourage Americans to live healthier lifestyles. But Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is anything but a conventional choice. Having spent years living an extremely unhealthy lifestyle before changing his ways, he now wants to use the government to “make” the rest of us healthy.
Kennedy has made many controversial health care-related claims widely covered in the media. He not only doesn’t “follow the science,” but he also rejects long-established scientific thinking on just about every health issue. But given the flawed guidance that emerged from Dr. Anthony Fauci and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans appear to be more open to a contrarian.
In April, Kennedy announced he wanted the CDC to stop recommending communities fluoridate their public water systems. He had previously said on X, “Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease.”
State and local governments, not the federal government, decide whether to fluoridate, and about 73 percent of those using public water systems have fluoridated water. But Kennedy can pressure them. When Utah recently became the first state to ban fluoride statewide, Kennedy, flanked by legislative leaders, praised the state. “I’m very, very proud of this state for being the first state to ban it, and I hope many more will.”
Yet practicing dentists disagree. The American Dental Association says 82 percent of dentists “strongly support” fluoridation and 10 percent “somewhat support” it. That’s because when applied at recommended levels (some communities exceed those levels) the practice is safe and proven to reduce cavities, even when fluoride toothpaste is widely used.
Israel began fluoridation in 1981 and stopped in 2014. The Israel Journal of Health Policy Research conducted a follow-up study reporting, “A statistically significant increase in the mean number of treatments in the years after fluoridation cessation was found. There was approximately a two-fold increase in the number of all treatments for all ages.” The journal recommended refluoridation.
Kennedy has also been criticized for leading the antivaccination movement, especially now that a Texas measles outbreak is spreading. The Texas Department of State Health Services lists 683 confirmed measles cases in the state, with 653 of them being unvaccinated. So far 89 people, mostly children, have been hospitalized and there have been two deaths.
Like dentists on fluoridation, the large majority of physicians disagree with Kennedy. A 2022 research paper from Texas A&M University found that “88 percent of [primary care] physicians agreed or strongly agreed that vaccines in general are safe. Likewise, 90 percent of physicians agreed that vaccines are effective, and 89 percent agreed that vaccines are important.”
When 85 to 90 percent of medical professionals support long-proven medical therapies, dissenters face a high bar when challenging the science.
The fact is we will not make America healthy again until we address the problem of obesity. A recent study in The Lancet found that, “Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults are overweight or obese.” Importantly, “Obesity increases the likelihood of numerous metabolic conditions and their associated complications, including high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease, heart attack and stroke. It is also linked to infertility, cancer and poorer mental health outcomes.”
The issue is not so much what we eat but how much. The average American consumes 3,914 calories per day, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The recommended calorie intake is about 2,200 for women and 2,800 for men (depending on age and activity). You can see the problem.
Kennedy can ban all the food colorings he wants, but as long as Americans freely choose to consume nearly double the recommended daily calorie intake, many will have weight-related health problems. Will Kennedy use the government to force us to change our eating habits?
It’s been tried. In 2012, when New York City tried to ban supersized sugary sodas in restaurants, 69 percent of those surveyed — including 78 percent of Republicans —opposed the action.
Eliminating unhealthy foods from welfare benefits is a needed step. Taxpayers shouldn’t be paying for poor food choices. But there’s a big difference between what the government pays for and what the government won’t let us have.
We don’t yet know how far Kennedy will go in using the government to impose his unconventional views on the public. But if he moves from guidance to mandates, the public will find that hard to swallow.
Merrill Matthews is a public policy and political analyst and the co-author of “On the Edge: America Faces the Entitlements Cliff.”