WASHINGTON — American children will experience fewer childhood chronic diseases if they alter their diets away from ultra-processed foods, have their exposure to chemicals, including pesticides, reduced, and are not over medicated, according to a report published May 22 by the Make America Healthy Again Commission, a group established via executive order by President Donald Trump.

“The American food system is safe but could be healthier,” the commission said. “Most children’s diets are dominated by ultra-processed foods (UPFs) high in sugars, chemical additives, and saturated fats while lacking sufficient intakes of fruits and vegetables.”

The commission noted that nearly 70% of an American child’s calories today come from UPFs. The report provided a broad definition of UPFs as “packaged or ready-consume-products that are formulated for shelf life and/or palatability but are typically high in added sugars, refined grains, unhealthy fats, sodium and low in fiber and essential nutrients.”

Statistically, the report claimed that roughly 70% of the over 300,000 branded food products available in grocery stores today are ultra processed.

Three problematic ingredients identified in the report are ultra-processed grains, sugars and fats.

“These engineered components, virtually nonexistent a century ago, now account for over two-thirds of all calories consumed by American children,” the report said.

Other ingredients identified as contributing to the poor health of American children include emulsifiers, binders, sweeteners, colorings and preservatives, specifically, titanium dioxide, propylparaben, butylated hydroxytoluene and artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose and saccharin.

“Additives in processed foods are consumed in complex combinations, where cumulative and synergistic effects may amplify harm beyond individual components,” according to the report. “Yet, testing often ignores these interactions, particularly in children. With dozens of additives consumed daily, these overlooked risks could be significantly impacting children's health.”

The increased consumption of ultra-processed food is blamed on industry consolidation, the corporatization of the food system and regulations that disadvantage smaller businesses. Specifically, food industry lobbying around nutrition research and the development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans are identified as ways the industry has contributed to the current situation.

In the same way the commission sees interactions of food additives in formulations contributing to poor health outcomes, it sees exposure to different chemicals as having a similar effect.

The interaction of combinations of food additives formulated into products was cited as a possible reason for the poor health of some children in America.

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“The great challenge of the next decade is for government and industry around the world to understand the impacts of the cumulative chemical exposure that a child faces,” the commission said.

Chemicals identified in the report as of concern include perfluoroalkoxy alkanes, also known as PFAs, microplastics, fluoride, phthalates and crop protection tools like pesticides, herbicides and insecticides. Corporate influence was again cited as raising concerns about the safety of some chemicals.

Next steps identified in the report include post marketing surveillance of drugs and food ingredients, and the creation of a program to independently replicate findings from industry-funded studies; use of artificial intelligence to monitor health and nutrition datasets for early detection of harmful exposures and childhood chronic disease trends; generally recognized as safe oversight reform; long-term nutrition trials by the National Institutes of Health; and large-scale lifestyle interventions.

The International Dairy Foods Association responded to the report by encouraging the MAHA Commission to “embrace sound science and evidence throughout” its deliberations.

The American Soybean Association issued a strong rebuke to the report, with Alan Meadows, a director of the association and its regulatory committee chairman, saying, “Both farmers and members of Congress tried to warn the administration that activist groups were trying to hijack the MAHA Commission to advance their longstanding goal of harming US farmers. Reading this report, it appears that is exactly what has happened.”

He specifically took issue with glyphosate and atrazine use identified as chemicals potentially harming the health of children.

“Activist organizations and trial lawyers are already engaged in baseless lawfare on pesticides,” he said. “By bizarrely, without reason singling out two specific pesticides, the administration has offered activists a gift on a silver platter. Those groups will be poised to use the report to advance litigation aimed at taking away these tools American farmers use safely and effectively to produce our food.

“It is sad — and downright unjust — that, because of this one unfounded report, those decisions likely will be made by a judge and the court of public opinion instead of the regulatory system created for these very decisions and based on years and reams of credible science and research.”