Children’s health is in crisis—that is the claim of the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again Report.

The report published on May 22 provides six measurements as evidence for the claim. In the past 20-50 years, diagnoses of childhood obesity, diabetes, neurodivergent disorders, mental health crises, allergies, and cancer have increased— some at significant rates.

“I would say there is a crisis in children's health in regards to certain things,” said Dr. Toni Richards-Rowley, vice president of the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Several pediatric doctors today raised concerns about anti-vaccine rhetoric in the Make America Healthy Again movement. The doctors said some of the metrics presented in the recently published report are legitimate.

“We are seeing a rise in childhood obesity. That rise continues to be exponential,” said Dr. Priscilla Mpasi, a primary care pediatrician based in Pennsylvania. Mpasi said pediatricians have underscored the importance of nutrition for years.

Both doctors linked that processed food and lack of nutrition can cause multiple health issues.

Mental health is the other significant crisis that the pediatricians say must be addressed.

“Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in children,” Richards-Rowley said. "And it's getting to be a younger and younger age.”

The 70+ page report presents four causes for the issues: ultra processed foods, environmental toxins, stress and lack of physical activity, and overmedicalization.

Doctors say some of the environmental and virtual lifestyle concerns could be legitimate— but those and nutrition are not being supported by other Trump administration policies.

“They are talking about it, and they're slashing the EPA,” Richards-Rowley said. “So it's one thing to talk about it. It's another thing to do it.”

Of the four causes listed by the administration, over-medicalization remains controversial among medical professionals.

“Children are undoubtedly on a lot more medications than they were in the 1960s. And you know there's two sides of that,” said Dr. Joseph Marine, a cardiologist who practices in Baltimore.

"You can say that some of this is advancements in medicine, advancements in medical science that we can treat things better,” said Marine. "But you know some have raised questions do kids really need all of these medications, particularly for things like ADHD and other behavioral conditions that when you previously were not treated with medications as.”