Americans’ health has been in steady decline. Chronic disease is rising, life expectancy is falling, and more children are getting sick at younger ages. Despite medical breakthroughs, our system leans too heavily on drugs and procedures instead of on preventing illness in the first place. The costs to our health and our economy are staggering.
President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are changing course. They are advancing a vision that the United States has needed for decades: one that tackles the root causes of disease and restores public health.
As HHS career physicians with more than 13 years of combined service at HHS, we strongly support this direction. Kennedy has recentered the department on rigorous science and free inquiry, rejecting censorship and political interference. He is challenging entrenched assumptions and putting health—not bureaucracy—first.
We both cared for patients struggling with chronic disease before joining HHS: Dr. Dorothy Fink as an endocrinologist and Dr. Sara Brenner as a preventive medicine physician. We saw patients who were once considered “incurable” regain health through achievable lifestyle changes. Yet too often, the medical establishment tells patients that their conditions are “lifelong” and treatable only with medications or procedures. This strips them of hope and ignores the reality that many conditions are preventable and, in some cases, reversible.
Children bear the brunt of this failure. More than one-third of U.S. children and adolescents have excess body weight, and more than one-quarter have a mental, behavioral, or developmental disorder. Too much screen time, too little exercise, and diets dominated by ultra-processed food are driving these trends and stealing years of healthy life.
Kennedy is taking decisive action. HHS is improving access to nutritious food in schools and communities, strengthening federal nutrition programs, and reforming food safety by removing harmful additives. Medical schools are now encouraged to teach nutrition as part of core training, ensuring that doctors understand the importance of diet. The reestablished Presidential Fitness Test is helping schools and families make daily physical activity a foundation of health. These steps empower families with the tools to build resilience and lifelong wellness.
Equally important, Kennedy is rebuilding public trust. He has called on HHS staff to check personal bias, reject self-censorship, and embrace open debate. He has made radical transparency the standard: Americans deserve to know how health recommendations are developed, what evidence supports them, and how to make informed choices with their physicians.
This is a turning point. For too long, our system managed sickness instead of promoting health. Now, under Trump and Kennedy, we are moving toward prevention, nutrition, exercise, and open dialogue with the U.S. people.
The path forward is clear. With leadership committed to gold-standard science and to the well-being of future generations, the United States can reverse its decline and build a healthier, stronger, more hopeful nation.