Controversy Erupts over 'Make Our Children Healthy Again' Report
Government uses fabricated research findings to support its policies
A recent government report, published under the "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) initiative of the White House, has sparked controversy due to alleged discrepancies in its handling of sources and scientific evidence.
Critics claimed that the report selectively cites literature, cherry-picking studies to support its claims rather than providing a comprehensive overview of the evidence. Furthermore, some studies cited in the report were found to be non-existent or misrepresented, casting doubt on the report's credibility and reliability[4].
One example uncovered involves epidemiologist Katherine Keyes, who was mistakenly identified as the first author of a study on youth anxieties. Keyes' research does indeed focus on that area, but she has distanced herself from the cited study[1]. Similarly, the Virginia Commonwealth University confirmed that one of their researchers, Robert L. Findling, did not conduct the study on advertising for psychoactive substances for youth as claimed in the report[2].
Another issue concerned the first author of a study on ADHD medication, "Shah, M.B.", who appears to be an nonexistent researcher in the field of ADHD[1]. "Notus" also revealed that about 20 sources had their content taken out of context or results misrepresented[1].
When confronted with these allegations, the White House downplayed them as "minor citation and formatting errors". However, upon further investigation, an updated version of the report was released, removing the seven references to non-existent sources[4].
Journalist Margaret Manto, one of the investigators, stated that the errors went beyond mere formatting miscues. "The report would not pass a peer review," she said, referring to the process in which scientific studies are reviewed by experts before publication[4].
In Hamm, news from the local scene includes the digital monitoring of trees in Kurpark, the failure of a lawsuit against RWE at the OLG Hamm, and the convergence of art and mining on the track in Hamm Bockum-Hövel[5].
[1] BBC News: https://www.bbc.com/news[2] New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com[3] Science Daily: https://www.sciencedaily.com[4] Der Spiegel: https://www.spiegel.de[5] City of Hamm: http://www.hamm.de
- The controversy over the "Make Our Children Healthy Again" report persists due to allegations of selective citation of medical-conditions literature, raising concerns about the report's credibility and its adherence to science in health-and-wellness issues.
- The report's credibility was further undermined when it was discovered that some cited studies were non-existent or misrepresented, implying a questionable handling of sources and evidence.
- Political factors, such as how the government handles scientific evidence in reports like the one from the "MAHA" initiative, may impact the public's trust in both health-and-wellness policies and general-news sources.
