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Calley Means, Co-Founder of Truemed, recently pointed out the dividing line in American healthcare system:
One side profits from managing disease vs the other side works to prevent and reverse disease.
His statement perfectly explains the MAHA movement: to prevent and reverse disease and counter those who profit from disease management.
Given my work with Your Body Matters, you can guess that I’m for the Make America Healthy Again movement. Because it could change the trajectory of American health, it’s important for Christians to think it through from a biblical worldview.
On a much smaller scale, this movement has been my hope for the church, one driven by a God-given passion that began 20 years ago. Christians are called to glorify God in our bodies (1Cor 6:20), and this command encompasses our physical health. Managing disease is necessary, but prevention and reversal can happen when rightly motivated to honor God even in eating and drinking (1Cor 10:31). Throughout this post, I list related resources, books, and products that I created over the years that show my dedication to this issue.
What is the MAHA movement?
On February 13th, President Trump signed an executive order “establishing the Make America Healthy Again Commission,” which you can read in full here.
Robert F. Kennedy will lead the MAHA movement as the new HHS, Health and Human Services, secretary. Setting aside any of his past or present positions that Christians might disagree on, there can be consensus that Kennedy is on the right track when it comes to the average American’s physical health, chemicals in our food, or the pharmaceutical companies that profit off obesity and chronic disease. We should at least wonder:
How is it possible that one of the most technologically advanced, wealthiest countries with unlimited access to wellness tools, plans, apps, procedures, diets, supplements, gyms, drugs, health foods, etc. is simultaneously one of the most obese-chronically-disease-laden-countries in the world despite exorbitant healthcare expenditure?
These incongruent realities lead to legitimate concerns and obvious questions, the very things the MAHA commission aims to address.
How bad is it?
The first section of the executive order provides the context for the commission’s purpose. It lists staggering statistics, showing the bleak trajectory of America’s health. The following portion highlights some of those stats, along with others I believe are significant.
Half of all Americans – 1 out of 2 people – will be obese in 5 years. By 2030, the majority of people in 10 states will be classified as morbidly obese. This classification corresponds with increased chronic diseases and shorter life expectancy, precisely why adults in other developed nations live longer than we do. And as I explained in previous posts on Christianity and the Obesity Epidemic, these 10 states are mostly ones in the Bible Belt.
Rates of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and cholesterol are higher than ever with 2 in 10 children and 6 in 10 adults diagnosed with at least one. Having one, the likelihood of developing others drastically increases. That’s why 4 in 10 adults have 2 or more chronic diseases.
Nearly 4 in 10 teens ages 12-18 are prediabetic. Without quick lifestyle changes, they’ll become diabetic (type 2) at much younger ages than previous generations – all from the ongoing physical effects of a disease that largely arises from lifestyle factors. Parents and grandparents need to educate kids on healthy choices rather than passing down poor health habits. I wrote about the importance of combating childhood obesity and suggested ways to do so. I also created a program to educate kids and teens on these matters from a biblical worldview.
Worsening mental health continues to parallel worsening physical health. In fact, 1 in every 4 women is on an anti-depressant that often comes with unfortunate side effects. Over 1/3 of teens have been diagnosed with a behavioral, mental, or emotional disorder, and overall, 1 out of 5 adults experience mental illness.
In the last 30 years, cancer rates in America are up almost 90%. Autoimmune disorders have dramatically increased along with the list of pharmaceuticals (and possible side effects) to treat them.
Consumption of processed and ultra-processed foods (“foods” with no nutritional value) is higher than ever. Ultra-processed foods account for half of the calories we eat at home.
90% of the $4.5 trillion we spend on healthcare goes towards chronic disease. Even more, 5 of the 10 most common causes of death result from these diseases that are largely preventable when contributing lifestyle factors are addressed. In essence, we are bankrupting ourselves while also dying from mostly preventable causes.
On average, adults spend most of their waking hours sedentary, sitting for 9.5 hours a day. And 80% of that sitting time is spent staring at a phone, computer, or tv screen. This “sitting disease” significantly contributes to poor health, particularly when combined with unhealthy eating.
One hundred years ago, Americans ate 6lbs of sugar a year. Today, we consume nearly 22x that amount, eating 130lbs of sugar every year.
The same FDA that allows addictive chemicals, synthetic ingredients, and cancer-linked pesticides in our foods that other nations ban is the very same entity that approved 10+ new weight loss drugs in recent years. It’s no shock that they have quickly become the most lucrative medications for the most profitable drug companies, despite side effects and a growing number of lawsuits. I wrote on the concerning issues behind the rise of these drugs and what Christians should consider before taking them.
Only 7% of Americans are metabolically healthy meaning they have normal levels of glucose (70-100) and triglycerides (below 150), HDL above 60, blood pressure at 120/80, and waist circumference of 40” in men and 35” in women. Poor metabolic health goes hand in hand with chronic disease development.
What can be done?
The next two sections of the commission suggest policy changes to address our poor health and describe who will be involved. Several agencies will partner to prevent and reverse chronic disease by increase transparency and decrease conflicts of interest in health research, determine root causes of disease, support farmers, and encourage lifestyle change with flexible insurance coverage and benefits.
Why prioritize chronic disease in children?
The commission’s first major focus, detailed in the 4th section, will be to identify the cause of chronic diseases in children, as rates have dramatically increased in recent years. Reviewing a variety of factors, the goal is to pinpoint causes of disease from diet, toxins in foods, lifestyle, environmental factors, policies, and even corporate corruption. From there, they’ll determine effective strategies for combating and ending chronic disease in children.
Lastly, the 5th-7th sections explain how they’ll build this strategy over the first 100 days with some clear next steps on preventing these diseases in the future.
Should Christians be motivated by MAHA movement?
Short answer, yes. Long answer, we should first find the motivation to care for our bodies and physical health from the Bible but can be helped by it secondarily.
These current health realities impact us and our witness as we live in the place and time God has us. Christians should agree that health issues are worse than ever and especially troubling for future generations. We need to reflect on some frank questions.
Are these issues so commonplace that we uncritically accept worsening health and decreased life expectancy?
Are we so committed to continuing unhealthy choices that we accept the inevitability of chronic disease?
Are you seeking to glorify God in all areas of life?
Perhaps, the most important question that hits the heart of the issue is: do you believe your body matters?And if so, then what are you doing about it?
Christians can’t jettison our bodies and physical health merely because the body decays at death. After all, God intricately designs the body; it belongs to him and will be gloriously resurrected for an eternal embodied existence. What we do with our bodies now matters because they have a future.
A biblical understanding of the body is an important matter for Christians because treating the body well begins with thinking well of the body. If we don’t think the body matters, then we’ll be more likely to disregard physical health. At this critical point in history, particularly when it comes to our nation’s health, Christians must think about and treat our bodies better.
At the end of the day, I don’t know whether the motivation for Kennedy or others behind the MAHA movement springs from a biblical worldview. But I do know that the commission’s goals are ones that Christians can support and, hopefully, will be inspired by.
Resources
Four, free downloads here
Online or in-person workshops
Online programs
Understand Healthy: Learn How to Cultivate Lasting Lifestyle Change
The Bible and Your Body: What God Says About The Body
Books
Embodied Holiness: The Biblical Call to Bodily Care
Be Well: Learning to Steward Your Health
Struggling with Body Image: Seeing What God Sees
Blog posts
The problem of high blood pressure and how to lower it
For how a biblical worldview informs physical health, read this post on a theology of the body.
Five ways to quickly better your health and wellbeing
This one details more reasons why the body is an essential issue for Christian leaders.
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