By Ingrid Maldonado
Senior Editor
In a country plagued by obesity, chronic illness and a broken healthcare system, one man declares, “It’s time to make America healthy again.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as secretary of Health and Human Services on February 13. He has made a pledge to “make America healthy again,” which is his slogan.
Kennedy advocates for the elimination of ultra-processed foods, added sugars, food dyes, seed oils and other additives banned in many countries.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 944,800 Americans die of heart disease or stroke every year.
Ninety-eight million adults in the U.S. have prediabetes. As for obesity, just over 1 in 3 young adults are too heavy to join the U.S. military.
Many people are skeptical of him becoming health secretary due to many of his past health claims. Some of these claims being vaccines cause autism, wireless technology causes cancer and many more.
Him speaking out on reforming the Food and Drug Administration, removing food dyes and food additives, has helped him get support. “It’s about dang time,” said Amelia Bushman, when asked how she feels about Kennedy trying to take a stand on America’s health. Amelia Bushman and her husband, Brandon Bushman, are both passionate about having healthier foods with less toxins.
Brandon Bushman owns Bushman Heat and Air, while his wife, Amelia, owns a home daycare and is the children’s pastor at Alva Wesleyan Church.
They have 6 kids and are careful about making sure they are not ingesting foods with food dyes and ultra processed foods. The Bushmans started reading labels to avoid certain foods. Amelia said they began with the soda, Dr. Pepper, as they would drink 2 to 3 a day. Brandon stopped drinking it for weight loss.
Around six months later without soda, he drank one and then went to work, which then he worked in the oil field.
He woke up the next day and had bad allergy symptoms, which was abnormal for him. Two weeks later he tried Dr. Pepper again and the same symptoms appeared. Brandon then explained he researched the ingredient, sodium benzoate, that is a preservative in Dr. Pepper. He concluded that ingredient is what caused all the symptoms to flare up.
Since then, he has switched from Dr.Pepper to Pepsi which does not have the ingredient sodium benzoate. Although Kennedy wants to make America healthy again, many are skeptical if he is spreading misinformation. One of his main targets are seed oils. Many claim it causes inflammation, that leads to other health risks such as obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
Bianca Stephens, a psychotherapist in Alva said the idea of seed oils being toxic is inconclusive. She said that certain people may have allergies but even if you look seed oils on Google, it will tell you it is inconclusive. Seed oils do not have as much impact as deli meats which the World Health Organization has released are carcinogenic, explained Stephens. Shravya Dharambhat, a doctor in southern California, said there is not enough evidence to prove seed oils cause inflammation.
As with food dyes, she said there are studies that show they are harmful.
Dharambhat said ultra-processed foods are more of an issue in America.
“I work like 80 hours a week, it’s hard to, you know, cook my own meals, so a lot of the times frozen or packaged are easier to obtain and its cheaper.” Dharambhat said, “So I think that ends up causing a lot of the health issues that we see here compared to other countries.”
Norah Scarbrough, a sophomore biology major at NWOSU, plans to become a nutritionist after she graduates.
Scarbrough understands there’s a generalizing that America does not have the best diet, especially with the many ultra-process foods. She believes balance is key.
“I think, partially, just in moderation, because I do enjoy a good sour patch kids pack,” Scarbrough said. “Overall, I think our bodies are designed to eat whole foods, natural foods because our bodies break them down the best.”
Dharambhat explained that even though she is vegetarian for religious purposes she knows that a diet should be balanced with meats and vegetables.
Dharambhat said that if she were to eat meat, she would avoid processed meats and balance meat with vegetables and whole grains.
She also tries to avoid canned vegetables as they contain many preservatives.
To make smarter choices on what foods to eat, Amelia Bushman recommends people should start slow, take baby steps. Rather than eat many processed foods, instead choose whole foods. She explains that people should make it work within their budget. “We went clean for a while and then we went to unclean back, because of the cost of it,” Amelia said.
While it can be easier said than done, choosing to buy better foods can be more expensive.
Many families in the U.S. can only afford the ultra-processed foods.
Then there is the saying that the diet of a college student consists of ninety-nine cent ramen which is an ultra-processed food. “That’s hopefully what new administration would help, is we don’t have to decide are we going to pay rent this month or feed our kids healthy food,” Amelia said.
Stephens explained accessibility is an issue when trying to be healthy.
Many unhealthy people are those who do not have access to food, Stephans said. Alva has a few restaurants and then the rest are fast food places and Stephens said that is a lot of how America looks like.
Dharambhat deals with more of the lower income population and explained how it is not easily accessible for them to choose to eat healthier. She said if she were to tell her patients to eat more vegetables, they couldn’t because they’re homeless, they cannot make a homecooked meal and it’s easier to get fast food. Even if they are not homeless, they are working to make ends meet and do not have time to cook meals.
“You’re thinking of today not twenty years from now when you start having a stroke or heart disease because you’re just living day to day,” Dharambhat said.
Although many are uncertain if Kennedy has the means or is qualified to “make America healthy again,” many are hopeful that he will improve America’s food and accessibility. “It does give me a little bit of hope in that my kids may be able to live a healthy life,” Brandon said.