Global health chiefs welcome RFK’s attack on junk food as ‘poison’ and the need for more exercise

With obesity rates soaring, many experts have been lobbying for better regulation of the US ‘industrial food complex’ for years

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Promises by Donald Trump’s controversial new pick for America’s health chief to tackle spiralling rates of obesity, diabetes and other chronic conditions have been welcomed by global health chiefs.
Robert F Kennedy Jr’s vows that he will clean up America’s diets and lifestyles could prompt a wider pivot to tackling conditions which have become some of the globe’s biggest killers, they believe.
Mr Trump’s nomination of a prominent vaccine sceptic to take the helm of America’s sprawling health apparatus has been met with alarm in much of the health world.
However a senior World Health Organization (WHO) source told the Telegraph that beyond his views on vaccines, there was common ground with his proposed war on expanding waistlines and unhealthy lifestyles.
The scion of the Kennedy political clan has said he will “Make America Healthy Again” by taking on powerful food companies that he blames for poisoning the American diet.
During campaign speeches he said he would crackdown on addictive, ultra processed foods “that are mass poisoning us and killing us and making us the sickest population in the world”.
He has even cast judgement on the eating habits of his new political master.
Last week he said Mr Trump’s preferred catering while flying, of either McDonald’s Big Macs or KFC burgers was “just poison”.
Mr Trump appears to agree. Announcing Mr Kennedy’s nomination to lead America’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) he said: “For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex.”
A senior WHO source said officials were considering Mr Kennedy’s positioning across a range of health subjects and that while some – notably vaccines – seemed problematic they were likely to be aligned on others, notably the need for nutritious food and exercise.
“On food and exercise it would appear there is some alignment,” the source told the Telegraph.
Mr Trump has given Mr Kennedy permission to “go wild” on the health brief.
After building a career and business waging anti-pollution legal actions against large corporations like DuPont and Monsanto, Mr Kennedy has increasingly pivoted to food and drugs.
If his nomination is confirmed, he will oversee internationally influential bodies such as the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Food and Drug Administration.
With that position he has said he wants to tackle what he calls an epidemic of chronic conditions like obesity, diabetes, autism, cancer, and mental illness.
This week an American study disclosed that nearly three-quarters of American adults are overweight or obese, up from around half in 1990.
The weight gain is causing a growing burden of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and shortening life expectancy.
A separate global analysis of worldwide diabetes rates released earlier this month found the incidence had exploded.
Urbanisation, growing living standards and more widely available fast food mean similar trends are being seen in much of the world, even in lower income countries.
India, Pakistan, China and America all have high rates.
The growing burden of these so-called non-communicable diseases or “NCDs” has come at the same time as vaccines, better health care and wider availability of food have sharply lowered mortality rates from infectious diseases and starvation.
Mr Kennedy’s focus on better diet could play into a wider need to deal with these lifestyle diseases.
John Butler, head of Global Health Strategies Europe and MENA, says: “If the new US administration wants to debate what’s best for children and how we can further save kids lives, then people in health should engage in an honest dialogue and defend successes while also debating what can be improved and where there’s common ground.
“For example, I think everyone would agree that too many children are obese and overweight, setting them up for illnesses like diabetes, heart disease and cancer as they grow up. Kids should be eating as much fresh food as possible and able to play and exercise in safe places.”
Others questioned whether any benefit his appointment might have on non-communicable diseases would be outweighed by his stance on vaccines.
Dr David Elliman, consultant paediatrician at Great Ormond Street Hospital, said: “While RFK Jr’s desire to tackle chronic conditions including obesity is commendable, how he might go about it is less clear.”
Mr Kennedy has questioned the safety of routine jabs and repeated discredited claims of links to autism, has made him the country’s most prominent vaccine sceptic.
Dr Elliman said: “Let us hope that, if appointed, he adopts a more responsible attitude. Directing his energies to the ‘industrial food complex’ would be no bad thing, as would ensuring more transparency from pharmaceutical companies.”
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