Washtenaw County Health Department urging measles vaccine to prevent spread
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the MMR vaccine contributed to the elimination of the disease from the U.S., but a downward trend in vaccinations has made people susceptible to its reintroduction from other parts of the world. No cases have been reported in Washtenaw County this year, but officials say it could put children's health and education at risk.
Ann Arbor Public Schools says it will follow state guidelines if a measles case is detected at one of its schools. This means unvaccinated students will not be able to go to school or participate in school activities for a minimum of 21 days.
The Washtenaw County Health Department says the guidelines are because of how easily it spreads among unvaccinated people.
"Nine of 10 people, if they're not protected by vaccine or prior illness, are going to become ill if they're exposed," said county health department spokesperson Susan Ringler-Cerniglia.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) says the vaccine provides lifelong immunity and is 97% effective in preventing measles. Health officials suggest vaccine hesitancy is related to a 1998 study that linked the vaccine to the development of autism, but they claim the data used in that study was fraudulent.
Ringler-Cerniglia says the MMR vaccine has a long history of being safe and effective.
"This is a vaccine that's been around for a long time, it's been tested, it's incredibly safe, and it's incredibly effective. If you're not up to date, it's a great time to consider doing that because it's going to prevent illness, it's going to prevent spread, and it will prevent kids being kept out of school," she said.
She says the vaccine is covered by most insurance plans and is widely available at family doctors, pharmacies and even the health department itself.
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'Traditionally, it was a Democrat issue': How RFK Jr. is getting left-leaning food laws into deep-red states
Earlier this month, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. notched one of his biggest wins of the "Make America Healthy Again" movement when West Virginia became the first state in the country to ban artificial food dyes in school lunches. Since then, a handful of other Republican governors have raced to join in, banning certain food colorings from kids' lunches -- sometimes prohibiting other chemical additives, too. Some GOP leaders have gone further, slapping warning labels on certain food additives statewide. Historically the focus of Democrats, including former first lady Michelle Obama -- and derided as "nanny state" politics by anti-regulation conservatives -- food laws have lately had a windfall of support from the other side of the aisle. Kennedy's "Make America Health Again" crusade against food additives, with its strong backing from President Donald Trump, has taken hold in deeply Republican states such as Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma. "Traditionally, it was a Democratic issue," Kennedy told ABC News at a press conference on Monday, adding that he is hopeful that Democrats will continue pass food laws in their states despite the "partisan brand" the movement brings. West Virginia -- which has the second-lowest life expectancy rate in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- has taken one of the most stringent approaches, intending to further its ban on artificial dyes and other additives to the whole state by 2028. Its law closely mirrors those passed by California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, who signed similar bills into law before Kennedy and Trump took office. The California Food Safety Act passed in 2023, which banned four additives statewide, and a second California law passed in 2024, which banned six specific synthetic food dyes from school lunches. Both take effect in 2027. 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There's been at least a tenfold increase in the number of food bills introduced or discussed at the state level, he said, and there's been a "substantial shift" in which states are interested. 'Copy and pasting' Democrats' food laws into red states Thomas Galligan, principal scientist for food additives and supplements at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, has worked with states such as California and New York on systemic food reform. And although CSPI has frequently clashed with Kennedy on his policies at HHS, particularly around vaccines, Galligan said on food, "it's fair to give credit where it's due." "I mean, the Trump administration, under RFK Jr., has really elevated this issue on the national stage," he said. But Galligan pushed back on the characterization that it's part of Kennedy's "Make America Health Again" movement, pointing to California's laws, before Kennedy's tenure, as the blueprint. "Most of the bills that we're seeing are really copy and pasting," Galligan said. Six Republican states -- Tennessee, Virginia, Utah, Arizona, Louisiana and Texas -- have passed laws to remove artificial dyes from school lunches, with some states going further and prohibiting additives such as potassium bromate and propylparabens. Texas and Louisiana will also do more -- seeking to warn consumers when they're buying food with additives that are banned in other countries, such as Europe. West Virginia and Arkansas will outright ban certain additives statewide. Some nutritionists and dietitians say that it's best to avoid artificial food dyes, which have been linked in some studies to behavioral changes in children, as well as to cancer in animals, but others say more research needs to be done about the potential negative effects, which are still unclear. Why are food laws different for Republicans this time? For conservatives such as Jeff Singer, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute who studies health policy, the new Republican-led laws around food are a far cry from the days of protesting Obama's "Lets Move!" campaign and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's attempt to ban Big Gulp soda. "I clearly remember all of the criticism, particularly on right-wing media, of Mayor Bloomberg," Singer said. "All the attacks on Michelle Obama for trying to dictate how people should eat, and dictate what should be in school lunches." "They were basically saying, 'keep your nose out of our private affairs, this is not a role for government, we don't need a nanny state.' But all of a sudden, they're all for a nanny state because it was a very good political move to bring RFK into the MAGA movement," Singer said. The lack of conservative pushback this time around has left the food industry, a powerful lobbying force, as the primary barrier to passing legislation, said Meghan Enslow, policy associate for the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "In all of these states, blue and red, there's been immense lobbying and money spent by the food industry against these bills. And I do wonder if that MAHA narrative is part of what's allowed red states to ignore that money and the voice of the food industry and pass these bills," Enslow said. Kennedy said that a few Democratic governors have told him privately that they intend to get on board. "They don't want to call it MAHA because they think that that's become kind of a partisan brand. I don't care what they call it," Kennedy said. "They want to protect their children. And there's no such thing as Democratic children or Republican children. They're our children, and we should all care about them."
NBC News
2 hours ago
- NBC News
Ultra-processed foods make up the majority of kids' diet, CDC report finds
Ultra-processed foods make up the bulk of what kids eat — and adults aren't far behind, a report published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds. About 62% of kids' and teens' daily calories came from ultra-processed foods, the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics found, compared with 53% for adults. The report marks the first time CDC has provided estimates about how much ultra-processed foods make up Americans' diets. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in May cited ultra-processed foods among his list of top issues that need to be addressed to curb what he says is an epidemic of childhood chronic diseases. Last month, the Department of Health and Human Services took the first step to formally define 'ultra-processed foods' — a move, experts say, that could open the door to regulation, including what types of food are eligible for food assistance programs. 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The report's lead author, Anne Williams, a researcher with the National Center for Health Statistics, said the agency identified ultra-processed foods using the NOVA classification system — a framework developed by Brazilian researchers that's the most commonly used tool to evaluate processed foods. NOVA defines ultra-processed products as 'industrial creations' made with little — if any — whole foods. The top source of ultra-processed foods for both kids and adults was sandwiches, such as burgers, hot dogs and PB&Js, Williams said. That was followed by baked goods, salty snacks and sugary drinks. The report found that adults with higher incomes tended to eat fewer ultra-processed foods. It also found that intake of ultra-processed foods for both kids and adults dropped slightly from 2017-18 to August 2021–23. For adults, the decline started even earlier, going back to 2013–14. Williams cautioned that the decline so far has been small — a 56-calorie difference over roughly a decade. 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'But it would be important to repeat studies to demonstrate that the new definition is as or more predictive of chronic disease risk than existing definitions before it could be used for policies.' HHS hasn't said when it plans to formally define 'ultra-processed.' Nestle said she hopes the Trump administration also targets marketing. 'These are highly convenient products, and the kids will eat them because the kids have been trained to eat them,' she said.
The Hill
7 hours ago
- The Hill
American youth derived 62 percent of calories from ‘ultra-processed' foods: CDC
A new analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that the majority of calories consumed by American youth in recent years came from 'ultra-processed' foods. The CDC analysis looked at data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) on calorie consumption of U.S. youths and adults between August 2021 and 2023. The report used the Nova classification system of food which defines 'ultra-processed' foods as those that consist of 'industrial formulations of processed foods that typically contain unnatural additives, such as colorings or emulsifiers.' NHANES participants aged one year and older who had reliable dietary recall beginning from Day 1 of interviews were included in the population sample. A total of 6,633 participants were included in the analysis. Among American youths, about 62 percent of their daily calories came from ultra-processed foods while among adults this percentage was 53 percent. The report categorized individuals aged between one and 18-years-old as youths and those aged 19 and older as adults. Across different age groups, youths aged six to 11 had the highest average percentage of processed food comprising their caloric intake at 64.8 percent. Adults 60 and higher had the lowest rate of processed food comprising their caloric intake at 51.7 percent. The survey found a decrease in the consumption of ultra-processed food consumptions among both youths and adults between August 2021 and 2023. This report comes soon after the Trump administration moved to allow state Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs (SNAP) to ban benefits from being used on processed foods. Colorado, Louisiana, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Texas and Florida received federal waivers to adjust SNAP guidelines outlawing the purchase of junk food with state funds in 2026. The waivers, such as the one acquired by Colorado, have largely cited soda as one of the primary junk foods that states don't want to be eligible for SNAP benefits. According to the NHANES, the top five sources of ultra-processed foods for youth were sandwiches, sweet bakery products, savory snacks, pizza and sweetened beverages.
