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Monday, November 25th, 2024
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
KENNEDY’S CONTROVERSIAL VIEWS ON OUR HEALTH!
The person who heads up the federal Department of Health and Human Services is quite essential to Louisiana. Louisiana citizens, bless their souls, are in large numbers, poor, unhealthy, and aging at a higher rate than many other states. There is a major reliance throughout the state on Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, and a number of other services offered by this federal agency. President Donald Trump’s picked for this important post is Robert F Kennedy, son of the assassinated brother of JFK.
I will have to say that some of Kennedy’s views on America’s health can be considered a little bit “off-the-wall.” I had written a few weeks ago that I met Kennedy this past summer at Phil’s Oyster Bar in Baton Rouge, and listened to him expound at length on his concerns about various vaccines and fluorides in our drinking water. I felt he was too extreme on both these issues although there is public disagreement across the country. But one area where we both strongly agreed was our concern about the food protections, or lack thereof, from the federal Food and Drug Administration in Washington. Simply put, this federal agency has failed to offer basic protections to the American people, and have ignored the well-being of our children for way too long. If there is one agency where the president should clean house, it’s the FDA.
There is a child health crisis all over America. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that more than one in three children throughout the U.S. are overweight or even obese. More than 40% of our kids have a chronic health condition, reports a study from the National Survey About Children’s Health. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of children being diagnosed with autism. It was one child in 150 some two decades ago whereas today it is one in 36. There has been a dramatic increase in our kids who experience seasonal allergies, food allergies, eczema, childhood cancer , and Type two diabetes.
The chief executive of the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, Dr. Richard Besser, says that: “If R.F.K. Jr. is concerned about chronic disease in America, that’s a good thing, because chronic diseases are real and there are things you can do to address them.” Chronic disease is a huge health problem all over America, and shame on both recent Democratic and Republican administrations for simply failing to realistically address this problem in the past.
Why do we allow people who receive federal food stamps to go out and buy products that are processed junk food? How safe are all these breakfast cereals with artificial food coloring in them? Kids love them, but are they safe? And sugar. We all love our sweets, but oh the damage that too much can cause. Why hasn’t the FDA fully investigated?
Let me put it bluntly. There is something fundamentally wrong with our government oversight and even support for a nutrition system that allows it’s people to consume, even fully live off of processed junk food. Sure, I want to see us make America great again. But to do that, you have to begin by making America healthy again. This junk food consumption is creating major problems for the health of millions of Americans. We unfortunately have a system that seems more designed to treat these illnesses rather than to prevent them.
The medical community is certainly not immune from Kennedy’s criticism, and I agree. And our medical schools are also not immune from their share of the blame. We have created a system that does not address the root causes of a country’s health problems. Instead, way too many doctors treat health problems with pills and shots. When was the last time a doctor sat down with you and said, “Let’s talk about nutrition, and what we can do to prevent future medical problems, not treat them after they have already festered.”
So I’m cutting RFK some slack with the hopes that he will use common sense in recommendations involving vaccines and the use of fluoride in our water. He has put forth some solid ideas about why our food system is broken, and is doing great damage to millions of Americans. I say right on. And please Mr. Kennedy. Come back to Louisiana to eat some more of our healthy oysters.
Peace and Justice
Jim Brown
Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com