RFK Jr.'s Planned Campaign On Ultra-Processed Foods To Face Challenges

Forbes

2 days ago

Unhealthy, ultra-processed foods.
Under the direction of its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Department of Health and Human Services is planning a campaign to raise awareness around the harms of ultra-processed foods while empowering people to take control of their health and change their dietary patterns. It will likely face challenges similar to the ones that undermined previous efforts to change Americans' dietary patterns.
Though controversy swirls around Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s stance on vaccines and a number of unconventional views he holds, the majority of Americans across the political spectrum agree with him on the importance of curbing the use of added sugars and certain chemicals and additives.
While the food industry is generally opposed to imposing government restrictions, approximately two-thirds of Americans favor reformulating (ultra)processed foods to remove ingredients like added sugar or dyes, according to a poll conducted by the Associated Press and the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center.
While there isn't yet a consensus definition of what constitutes ultra-processed foods, the Food and Drug Administration is working on one. In all likelihood it will focus on industrially manufactured products with chemically modified ingredients and other additives such as food coloring.
Kennedy points to ties between ultra-processed foods and the rise in obesity and diabetes rates. Indeed, connections between ultra-processed foods and a heightened risk of developing diabetes will be the focus of the first wave of Kennedy's national 'Take Back Your Health' campaign.
The Department of HHS is inviting public relations agencies to propose strategies for the launch of the campaign. STAT News reports that the call for pitches asks for 'daring, viral messaging to motivate behavior change.'
Dietary campaigns aren't a new concept. Even Kennedy's focus on reducing consumption of ultra-processed foods isn't unique. Recent efforts to shift lifestyle behaviors to improve public health include Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move' initiative focused on childhood obesity. The former first lady sought to impart the importance of developing lifelong healthy habits from a young age, which meant, among other things, eating more non-processed fruits and vegetables and drinking water rather than sugary beverages.
And policy prescriptions to improve nutrition go back much further than the one Michelle Obama initiated. There's been a long history of diet campaigns that began more than a century ago. The earliest focus of dietary guidance was on what comprised food groups in a healthy diet, food safety and storage, as well as ensuring that people get sufficient minerals and vitamins to prevent certain diseases.
Over time, as the science of nutrition evolved and became more sophisticated there was a greater recognition of how diet can play a role in preventing disease and maintaining health.
The federal government first released Dietary Guidelines for Americans in 1980. This document was based in part on a 1979 Surgeon General's Report and findings from a task force convened by the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, which reviewed the evidence 'relating key dietary factors to the nation's health.'
The Dietary Guidelines offered ideas for incorporating a wide variety of foods, including non-processed fresh fruit and vegetables, in people's diets to provide essential nutrients while maintaining recommended body weight. It offered guidance on reducing intake of fat, sugar, cholesterol and sodium, which were seen as risk factors in certain chronic diseases. The guidance documents also incorporated concepts of moderation around alcohol consumption.
Since 1980, revisions made to the Dietary Guidelines every five years have reflected updates to the science, incorporating systematic reviews to inform nutrition-related policies, programs and recommendations. Recent versions, for example, recognize that diet-related chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and some types of cancer are increasingly prevalent among Americans and pose a major public health problem.
Given its focus on disease prevention and health promotion, the information in the Dietary Guidelines is used to develop and revise federal nutrition education materials designed for the public as well as advice on what to include in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as Food Stamps).
Federal campaigns to improve diet have faced challenges in producing the desired results, perhaps none better exemplified than behavioral (non)responses to alter fat consumption followed by revisions to the Dietary Guidelines.
Scientific studies dating from the late 1940s showed a correlation between high-fat diets and high-cholesterol levels, suggesting that a low-fat diet could prevent heart disease in high-risk patients. This reflected itself in the early editions of the Dietary Guidelines. Experts who touted a low-fat diet said it would help people stay lean and healthy. But ironically, in the same decades that the low-fat approach gained traction, Americans got fatter, leading to what many call an obesity epidemic. And the rate of diabetes surged.
The problem is multifactorial and relates as much to lack of exercise as it does diet. And nutrition scientists concur that trans and saturated fats should be avoided, which is consistent with a low-fat strategy.
Nevertheless, it's been hypothesized that reducing total fat led to consumption of more refined carbohydrates and less healthy (saturated) fats. Experts have said for some time that not all fats are bad—in fact, some are healthy and key to a balanced diet that can contribute to better weight management.
These conclusions were already embodied in the 2000 update to the Dietary Guidelines, which noted the adverse effects of low-fat diets and changed the guidance from low to moderate fat. Moreover, the 2015 edition of the Dietary Guidelines has now lifted the limit on dietary fat altogether, with the exception of restrictions on trans and saturated fats.
Nonetheless, obesity prevalence in the U.S. has continued to increase. Is lack of visible messaging of the guidelines partly to blame? Or are guidelines being ignored by the public? Or is there too little attention being paid to the need for less caloric intake and more daily exercise? It's hard to tell. But what this does demonstrate is the set of challenges facing Kennedy as he prepares to broadcast his campaign against ultra-processed foods. Aside from opposition from stakeholders in the food industry, success will hinge on how effective his 'bold, edgy' crusade is in altering ingrained dietary habits.