U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. says a new Iowa law puts the state at the front of the Make American Healthy Again or MAHA movement.
“Iowa is showing the country what bold public health leadership looks like by focusing on prevention, nutrition, physical fitness and healthier lifestyles for the next generation,” Kennedy said early this afternoon during a bill signing ceremony in Governor Kim Reynolds’ statehouse office.
Reynolds submitted a series of health-related proposals to legislators. Inicluded in the final package is a requirement that state officials to keep applying for federal permission to restrict government food assistance to healthy foods. “Refocusing federal food assistance programs on the actual purpose for which they were created: helping low income families afford nutritious food,” Reynolds said. “Today with the approval of the USDA, Iowa’s SNAP and Summer EBT programs will support the purchase of produce, grains, meat and dairy, but candy and soft drinks are no longer covered.”
Reynolds suggested the bill may expand Iowans’ access to mental health services by letting psychiatrists licensed in other states schedule telehealth visits with Iowa patients. “We know that when Iowans’ physical and mental health is strong, so is our state,” Reynolds said, “which is why these issues have always been a priority and we remain committed to supporting good health for all Iowans.”
The law bans some food dyes and additives in food served in Iowa schools and requires Iowa medical students to complete 40 hours of courses on nutrition and how the human body converts food into energy. There’s a 60-minute-per-day limt on screentime in elementary grades, along with a new requirement that students in kindergarten through 4th grade engage in at least 40 minutes of daily physical activity.
Kennedy said these measures address the root causes of chronic diseases. “And we know why this matters. America is facing an existential crisis,” Kennedy said. “We spend more on health care than any nation in the world and yet we’re the sickest.”
Kennedy told the large crowd gathered in Reyonlds’ office that more than 40% of every dollar spent by the federal government goes to treating diabetes, cancer, heart ailments and other chronic diseases. Kennedy is visiting a central Iowa school this afternoon to highlight efforts to reduce the amount of time children spend looking at a computer screen.
The bill Reynolds signed into law will let pharmacists who choose to sell ivermectin without a prescription. And it requires Iowa medical students to complete 40 hours of coursework on nutrition and how the human body converts food into energy. Reynolds had proposed raising the state tax on a pack of cigarettes by 65 cents, along with new taxes on vaping products, but lawmakers removed those tax proposals from the bill.