Ali Rogin:
Today’s report comes after President Trump tasked the health secretary with identifying key drivers of chronic disease in February. But if today’s report was the diagnosis, the recommended treatments are supposed to come in a strategy document laying out solutions by mid-August.
For a deeper dive on today’s report, we now turn to Lauren Weber, health and science accountability reporter at The Washington Post.
Lauren, thank you so much for being here.
We have seen the report. What are your observations? Did anything surprise you in it?
Lauren Weber, Health and Science Accountability Reporter, The Washington Post: Well, as you noted, a lot of it followed what Kennedy has been saying for many months, including during his presidential run. He has run on this idea and taken this position as HHS that childhood chronic disease is a huge issue that this country must tackle.
And a lot of the nutrition experts I spoke to were really heartened to see the report. They felt it looked at ultra-processed food in a way that the United States has not. But several of the other medical experts I spoke to were alarmed at some of the report’s findings when it came to both vaccines and medications.
