Statewide Iowa (RI) — U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says a new Iowa law puts the state at the front of the Make American Healthy Again, or MAHA, movement.
Kennedy spoke early Wednesday afternoon during a bill-signing ceremony in Governor Kim Reynolds’ office.
Reynolds submitted a series of health-related proposals to legislators. Included in the package is a requirement that state officials continue seeking for federal approval to restrict government food-assistance to healthy foods.
Reynolds says the bill may expand Iowans’ access to mental-health services by letting psychiatrists licensed in surrounding states to schedule telehealth visits with Iowa patients.
The law bans some food dyes and additives in food served in Iowa schools and requires Iowa medical students to complete 40 hours of courses on nutrition and how the human body converts food into energy. There’s a 60-minute-per-day limit on screen time in elementary grades, along with a new requirement that K-4 students engage in at least 40 minutes of daily physical activity.
Kennedy says these measures address the root causes of chronic disease.
Kennedy says that more than 40% of federal spending goes toward treating diabetes, cancer, heart ailments, and other chronic diseases. He visited a central Iowa school Tuesday afternoon to highlight efforts to reduce children’s screen time.
The bill Reynolds signed also allows pharmacists to sell ivermectin without a prescription.
KIWA Staff Photo
