Kennedy commission child health report ignores gun violence, the leading cause of child death

"Absent from the document was any mention of guns, the leading cause of death for people under the age of 18. Firearms have been the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 17 every year since 2022. More than 2,500 kids died from gunshot wounds in 2022, the last year for which complete data is available, and guns were responsible for 30% of all deaths of 15- to 17-year-olds,"

""If you're putting out a report that's supposed to address how to help our children stay healthier, and you're not even mentioning the No. 1 cause of childhood deaths, you ought to be embarrassed," said Bruce Mirken, a spokesperson for Defend Public Health, a volunteer coalition of scientists, healthcare workers and other public health professionals launched this year to push back on disinformation and funding cuts."

The Make America Healthy Again Commission, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., released the Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy, a 20-page report the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services described as a "sweeping plan" to "reverse the failed policies that fueled America's childhood chronic disease epidemic." The commission identified four primary child health threats: poor diet, chemical exposures, excess prescription medications and the combination of too much stress and too little physical activity. The strategy omits any mention of guns, even though firearms became the leading cause of death for children in 2022, and that omission drew criticism from pediatricians and public health professionals. The short document outlines more than 120 topics with brief paragraphs and lacks detailed plans for many items.

Read at Los Angeles Times