Illustration: Grace J. Kim for Bloomberg
Were Americans Ever Really Healthy?
The history of nutrition science in the US suggests that the Make America Healthy Again movement would make more sense without the ‘A.’
In the early years of the 20th century, American doctors recommended three heavy meals a day, laden with meat — steaks, roasts, bacon and ham. But the influencers of the day took a contrarian view: They advocated lighter eating or vegetarianism, sometimes flaunting their own physical fitness to bolster their case.
More than a century later, the same debates are still raging, but the party lines are more complicated. Doctors have embraced lighter eating, influencers exist for every lifestyle choice under the sun, and US public-health departments are overseen by their own influencer, who touts the health virtues of beef fat and shows off his physique. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s role as secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services has brought his often contrarian views in direct conversation with government policy — as encapsulated in the initiative known as Make America Healthy Again.