Read Full Article in The Virginian-Pilot
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent White House report, “The MAHA Report: Make Our Children Healthy Again,” rightfully centralizes the role of diet in addressing chronic disease. Kennedy’s vision is admirable, but congressional leadership is actively seeking to weaken the exact programs necessary to make it reality.
The reconciliation bill under consideration would severely scale back SNAP, Medicaid and other programs that ensure families can put nutritious foods on the table and lead healthy lives. These proposals are directly at odds with the goals laid out in the MAHA report, and will ultimately cost taxpayers more.
Poor nutrition drives chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and hypertension — conditions that account for most U.S. health care spending. Rather than relying on pills to cure every ailment, doctors could help patients develop healthy diets that prevent many health problems before they begin. An America where doctors can prescribe nutritional food, fruits and vegetables would certainly be healthier.
These efforts, often referred to as the “Food is Medicine” movement, are already underway, thanks to federal funding — but they are on the chopping block if the reconciliation bill passes in its current form.