In an executive order issued Feb. 13, the president ordered the creation of the Make America Healthy Again Commission. The commission is intended to “focus on reversing chronic disease.”
The first task of the commission, which will be chaired by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is to “advise and assist the president on how best to exercise his authority to address the childhood chronic disease crisis,” according to the executive order.
Here are five things to know:
- In the executive order, the president directed the commission to “assess the prevalence of and threat posed by the prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants and weight loss drugs,” to children.
- In 2021, around 8% of children took medications for mental health conditions, according to the CDC. A study published in Pediatrics in 2024 found antidepressant prescription rates among individuals ages 12-25 rose by 66.3% from 2016 to 2022.
- Mr. Kennedy has questioned the use of medications in mental health treatment. In January 2024, he suggested there could be a link between antidepressants and school shootings. During his campaign for president, Mr. Kennedy pitched government funded “wellness farms,” where young adults could stop using illicit drugs, and “legal, psychiatric drugs if they want to — SSRIs, benzos, Adderall,” he said in July.
- Marketa Willis, MD, CEO of the American Psychiatric Association, told The Washington Post psychiatric drugs are not intended to be a front-line treatment for mental health disorders for children but are often helpful when treatments such as talk therapy have not worked.
“In many cases, they can give children their lives back,” Dr. Willis said. “It’s a long, involved process before kids get started on medication, and it’s done judiciously.”
- Anais Aftab, MD, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, told the Post there is limited data on long-term use of antidepressant medication in children and evidence these medications may be less effective in young people.
Dr. Aftab told the news outlet there is a “genuine clinical need” for psychiatric medications among children.
“The response should not be to restrict access to medication by thinking their use is unnecessary, but rather, the goal should be to increase access to high-quality clinical care that goes beyond reliance on medications,” he said.
The executive order directs the committee to deliver a report on the state of childhood chronic diseases by late May.
