Administration’s MAHA Strategy Follows New Path on Children’s Health

Action: On September 9, the Administration released the long-anticipated Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Strategy to address what it views as the structural drivers of childhood chronic disease in the United States. This strategy builds on the MAHA Commission’s May 2025 report, which identified four core contributors to chronic childhood disease: poor diet, cumulative exposure to environmental contaminants, lack of physical activity and chronic stress, and “overmedicalization.” As with the earlier report release, the strategy prompted debate over its scope and frequent reliance on voluntary rather than mandatory measures.

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The plan outlines over 120 calls for policy reform, new research, regulation, and agency restructuring. These range from including revisions to Federal nutrition programs, proposed definitions and regulatory standards for ultra-processed foods and additives, expanded NIH research into chronic disease and cumulative chemical risk, and measures to strengthen data transparency and vaccine safety monitoring.
The strategy envisions an expansive role for voluntary private-sector collaboration to advance MAHA initiatives, particularly in agriculture, nutrition, and community health. Federal agencies will work with schools, restaurants, and health providers to promote healthy diets and active lifestyles, including integrating whole foods into nutrition programs, improving menu options in restaurants, and supporting community-led efforts.
Many of these initiatives emphasize community engagement and signal a reliance on voluntary action similar to the food industry’s pledges to remove petroleum-based food dyes, rather than formal regulation.
However, the Strategy also anticipates regulation or Executive Branch actions in a variety of areas, including food labeling, standards for what is generally recognized as safe (GRAS), greater oversight of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drugs, and Medicaid health quality metrics to measure health outcomes. The President has already issued a Presidential Memorandum regarding DTC prescription drug advertising.
The Strategy also anticipates process reform and deregulatory actions in areas including certification of organic foods, FDA drug and medical device approval, and faster EPA approvals of “innovative agricultural products.”
Pediatric and public health experts welcomed the strategy’s emphasis on preventable drivers of chronic disease but noted important omissions, including the Administration’s broader reforms to Federal assistance programs serving low-income families. Meanwhile, agriculture stakeholders welcomed the absence of new regulations on pesticides and food production.
Pharmaceutical sector stakeholders called claims of ‘overmedicalization’ misleading and argued they undermine decades of progress.
Responses to the request for information on the definition of ultra-processed foods are due no later than September 23.

Administration’s MAHA Strategy Follows New Path on Children’s Health

September 11, 2025

Trusted Insights for What’s Ahead^®

The plan outlines over 120 calls for policy reform, new research, regulation, and agency restructuring. These range from including revisions to Federal nutrition programs, proposed definitions and regulatory standards for ultra-processed foods and additives, expanded NIH research into chronic disease and cumulative chemical risk, and measures to strengthen data transparency and vaccine safety monitoring.

The strategy envisions an expansive role for voluntary private-sector collaboration to advance MAHA initiatives, particularly in agriculture, nutrition, and community health. Federal agencies will work with schools, restaurants, and health providers to promote healthy diets and active lifestyles, including integrating whole foods into nutrition programs, improving menu options in restaurants, and supporting community-led efforts.

Many of these initiatives emphasize community engagement and signal a reliance on voluntary action similar to the food industry’s pledges to remove petroleum-based food dyes, rather than formal regulation.

However, the Strategy also anticipates regulation or Executive Branch actions in a variety of areas, including food labeling, standards for what is generally recognized as safe (GRAS), greater oversight of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drugs, and Medicaid health quality metrics to measure health outcomes. The President has already issued a Presidential Memorandum regarding DTC prescription drug advertising.

The Strategy also anticipates process reform and deregulatory actions in areas including certification of organic foods, FDA drug and medical device approval, and faster EPA approvals of “innovative agricultural products.”

Pediatric and public health experts welcomed the strategy’s emphasis on preventable drivers of chronic disease but noted important omissions, including the Administration’s broader reforms to Federal assistance programs serving low-income families. Meanwhile, agriculture stakeholders welcomed the absence of new regulations on pesticides and food production.

Pharmaceutical sector stakeholders called claims of ‘overmedicalization’ misleading and argued they undermine decades of progress.

Responses to the request for information on the definition of ultra-processed foods are due no later than September 23.

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