Frances Daniels, a Baltimore mother of three, read the Trump administration’s 20-page report called “Make Our Children Healthy Again,” and noticed some notable words were missing from it: “Smoking” and “nicotine.”
That was of grave concern to Daniels, because nicotine and the chemicals vaped with it, hooked and nearly killed one of her children three years ago.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says the strategy is “mobilizing every part of government to confront the childhood chronic disease epidemic.”
The administration’s list of recommendations in its report calls for public-service campaigns about the risks of alcohol, controlled substances, and vaping.
“The fact there is not a greater emphasis put on tobacco and nicotine, which is harming youth — it’s very, very surprising.”
The 20-page report, “Make Our Children Healthy Again,” from the Trump administration omitted two words that stood out to Frances Daniels, a mother of three from Baltimore: “smoking” and “nicotine.”. “.
In reference to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the word “tobacco” appears once in the document.
As Daniels puts it, “I was horrified.”. “Substance abuse was never brought up. in particular: nicotine. “.”.
Since one of her children was hooked on nicotine and the chemicals it contained three years prior and almost died, Daniels was extremely concerned about that. Due to a lung injury brought on by using e-cigarettes, her child had EVALI and spent six grueling weeks in the hospital. At one point, they were draining fluid from their lungs through roughly six tubes, three on each side, with machines on either side of the bed. “.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “mobilizing every part of government to confront the childhood chronic disease epidemic” is the stated strategy. The report’s list of recommendations from the administration includes public awareness campaigns regarding the dangers of alcohol, illegal drugs, and vaping. It also calls for more enforcement against illegally imported vapes and reported last week that e-cigarettes worth $86 million had been seized.
NPR has requested a response from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Trump’s top priority is 1point 0.
For Meredith Berkman, co-founder of Parents Against Vaping E-cigarettes, the report’s recommendations seem too flimsy. She claims that this stands in contrast to President Trump’s position during their 2019 meeting.
Of his focus on prevention, she says, “He was in the Rose Garden and in the Oval Office, talking about youth vaping,” during his first term. It’s shocking that tobacco and nicotine, which are damaging young people, are not given more attention. “,”.
In the United States, tobacco use continues to be the leading preventable cause of death.
Erections of tobacco, smoking, and other nicotine products are therefore illogical, according to epidemiologist Brian King, a former head of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products. According to King, “fighting chronic illness without tobacco control is like trying to complete a triathlon without a bicycle — you are doomed to fail before you even cross the starting line.”.
successful tobacco control initiatives.
King, who is currently executive vice president of the Center for Tobacco-Free Kids, claims that the administration’s recent actions contradict its professed support for increased enforcement and public awareness. He states, “The administration has eliminated the very unit that conducts that work at FDA in the same breath.”. The Office of Smoking and Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which provided funding for state tobacco control initiatives, was abolished by the Trump administration, he adds. King claims that some of these programs are currently being shut down.
Teens who participate in these programs report significantly lower rates of smoking and, more recently, vaping.
Despite the fact that nicotine and flavored tobacco are known to be major draws for youth, the Trump administration also backed out of plans to outlaw menthol-flavored cigarettes earlier this year, according to Priya Fielding-Singh, director of policy at the Global Food Institute at George Washington University. Fielding-Singh said in a statement that “a tobacco regulation to keep these products out of the hands of kids and teens is more effective than an educational campaign.”.
However, Jonathan Foulds, a professor of public health at Penn State, claims that since smoking and vaping are becoming less popular among teenagers, today’s youth are much less at risk, particularly when weighed against the numerous other public health risks they encounter. Foulds concludes that “nicotine itself is not very high on the list of public health priorities for kids.”.
It goes without saying that nicotine is addictive and has negative effects on heart health. But according to Foulds, nicotine comes in different forms. According to him, using oral nicotine pouches like Zyn or even vaping might be better than smoking cigarettes. According to him, “it’s much less harmful than smoking,” despite the fact that it isn’t completely safe. It’s better that they’re not smoking than to overstate the danger. “.
There is currently little evidence, according to Foulds, that many adolescents who begin vaping go on to smoke in their later years.
However, in the case of Frances Daniels, everything goes hand in hand. She asserts that both nicotine and vaping are dangerous.
According to her, her child recovered and gave up smoking. However, she keeps alerting others to the dangers.
