by
Pam Killeen
The recently released Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) report, chaired by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and initiated under President Trump, delivers a sobering snapshot of the health crisis facing America’s children. The numbers are staggering:
- Over 40% of U.S. children suffer from at least one chronic health condition
- Childhood obesity affects more than 1 in 5 kids
- Teen depression nearly doubled between 2009 and 2019
- Autism rates have climbed to 1 in 31 children
- Childhood cancer has risen by 40% since 1975
- Three-quarters of American youth are unfit for military service due to chronic illness or behavioral disorders
While the MAHA report deserves credit for spotlighting key drivers of this crisis—pharmaceutical overreach, ultraprocessed food, environmental toxins, and excessive screen time—it gives only passing attention to one of the most foundational and overlooked pillars of health: our relationship with light and darkness.
☀️ Where’s the Sun?
The MAHA report briefly acknowledges that children are spending less time outdoors and more time on screens—but it stops short of offering clear guidance on how much time in nature is actually needed. When I was growing up in the 1960s, we played outside for hours every day, even in the cold or rain. That natural connection with the outdoors wasn’t just enjoyable—it was essential for our physical and mental well-being.
While the report mentions that sunlight supports circadian rhythms, it doesn’t go far enough in explaining why that matters—or how profound the consequences of light deficiency can be. Sunlight isn’t just about vitamin D; it’s the body’s primary circadian regulator, influencing nearly every biological system, including sleep, metabolism, hormone balance, immune strength, and brain development.
Morning sunlight exposure, in particular:
- Sets the internal body clock, aligning sleep-wake cycles
- Increases serotonin, enhancing mood, focus, and emotional regulation
- Supports evening melatonin production, improving sleep quality
- Improves insulin sensitivity and metabolic function
- Strengthens immune resilience
Research has shown that disrupted circadian rhythms are a core feature of neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD and autism—precisely the conditions highlighted in the MAHA report. Children who spend more time outdoors are also significantly less likely to experience depression, obesity, nearsightedness, and sleep problems. Yet these connections—and their straightforward remedies—remain largely underemphasized.
🌙 What About the Night?
If daytime is a problem, nighttime is arguably worse. Children today live in an environment not only devoid of sunlight but also saturated with artificial light after sunset. Phones, tablets, TVs, LED lighting, and overhead fixtures all emit blue light—a frequency that powerfully suppresses melatonin, delays sleep onset, and disrupts the body’s internal timing.
The MAHA report briefly mentions the effects of blue light from screens—but stops short of providing guidance on how to restore healthy circadian rhythms. It fails to educate on simple, evidence-backed solutions: dimming lights after sunset, avoiding screens in the evening, and keeping bedrooms truly dark at night.
Disrupted darkness at night has been linked to:
- Obesity and insulin resistance
- Behavioral and emotional dysregulation
- Sleep phase delays and insomnia
- Early puberty in girls, low testosterone in boys
- Increased risk of childhood cancers
Put simply, our children are no longer synchronized with the 24-hour light–dark cycle. And this desynchronization is damaging their health in ways no pill or diet alone can fix.
📱 Screens: More Than Sedentary
The MAHA report rightly criticizes screen time for promoting sedentary lifestyles and reducing outdoor play. But it overlooks a critical point: screens don’t just displace movement—they displace biological timekeeping.
Screens used after sunset emit high-intensity blue light, tricking the brain into thinking it’s still daytime. This miscommunication:
- Delays melatonin production
- Disrupts sleep quality and timing
- Alters the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis
- Contributes to mood disorders, fatigue, and immune dysfunction
Without darkness, the hormonal cascade required for cellular repair, detoxification, and neurological development never fully activates. These basic principles of chronobiology are absent from the report’s proposed solutions.
🔦 Too Vague to Guide Change
To be fair, the MAHA report does mention circadian health and light exposure (page 51). And on page 72, it suggests further research into movement, diet, light exposure, and sleep timing. But here’s the problem: the science already exists. The solutions are straightforward. Waiting years for more research only delays action.
Why do we need to “study” what’s already clear? The crisis is now. Children need sunlight in the morning, darkness at night, and routines that respect the solar clock. These are actionable, low-cost strategies that should have been featured front and center—not buried in vague references and future studies.
🌎 A Bigger Realignment
The MAHA Commission’s call to realign our food, health, and education systems is admirable. But if we are truly going to reverse the chronic illness epidemic in children, we must also realign with nature’s rhythms.
We need a new public health standard—one that acknowledges the role of sunlight, darkness, and circadian rhythm in human biology. Solutions should include:
- Daily exposure to morning sunlight (within 30–60 minutes of waking)
- Outdoor learning and unstructured play
- Limiting screen use after sunset and switching to amber lighting indoors
- Keeping bedrooms free from artificial light (including blackout curtains and screen curfews)
- Circadian literacy as part of health education campaigns
Food and medication alone can’t restore what artificial lighting and circadian disruption have broken.
🧠 What the MAHA Report Got Right—and What It Missed
The MAHA report is a much-needed wake-up call. It takes bold aim at failed health policies and industry corruption. And yes, it does mention the influence of light and circadian biology—but only in passing.
It doesn’t offer clear, practical steps for how to restore a healthy relationship with light and darkness. It doesn’t explain how circadian disruption affects everything from sleep and metabolism to emotional regulation and brain development. And it doesn’t empower parents, educators, or practitioners with the tools they need to support real change.
In other words, the report shines a light on the problem—but leaves us in the dark when it comes to fixing it.
💬 Final Thought
We’re raising children in a world where the sun is feared, natural darkness is extinguished, and screens rule the night. While efforts like improving school lunches and reducing sugar are important, they won’t be enough on their own. To truly turn the tide on chronic disease, we must also restore balance with nature’s rhythms—starting with light and dark.
If we genuinely want to Make America Healthy Again, we need to restore the rhythms that made us healthy in the first place—sunlight by day, darkness by night, and sleep aligned with the 24-hour solar clock.
Pam Killeen is a health coach, podcaster, and co-author of the New York Times bestselling book The Great Bird Flu Hoax (2006). She writes and speaks extensively on health, nutrition, and systemic corruption in science and public policy. You can find her on Substack, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X, or visit her website at www.pamkilleen.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the MAHA report?
The Make America Healthy Again report is a federal initiative chaired by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and launched under President Trump. It examines the root causes of the childhood chronic disease epidemic in the United States, including pharmaceutical overreach, ultraprocessed food, environmental toxins, and excessive screen time. Over 40% of U.S. children now suffer from at least one chronic health condition.
What did the MAHA report miss about light and circadian health?
While the report briefly mentions that sunlight supports circadian rhythms and that screen time displaces outdoor play, it stops short of offering actionable guidance. It does not explain how circadian disruption affects sleep, metabolism, hormone balance, immune function, and brain development in children — or provide specific recommendations like morning sunlight exposure, limiting blue light after sunset, and keeping bedrooms dark at night.
How does sunlight affect children’s health?
Morning sunlight is the body’s primary circadian regulator. It sets the internal body clock, increases serotonin for mood and focus, supports evening melatonin production for better sleep, improves insulin sensitivity, and strengthens immune resilience. Research has shown that children who spend more time outdoors have lower rates of depression, obesity, nearsightedness, and sleep problems.
Why is blue light from screens harmful to children at night?
Screens used after sunset emit high-intensity blue light that tricks the brain into thinking it’s still daytime. This suppresses melatonin production, delays sleep onset, disrupts the hormonal cascade needed for cellular repair and brain development, and contributes to mood disorders, fatigue, and immune dysfunction. The damage goes beyond sedentary behavior — screens actively disrupt biological timekeeping.
What circadian health strategies does the article recommend for children?
Daily exposure to morning sunlight within 30 to 60 minutes of waking, outdoor learning and unstructured play, limiting screen use after sunset, switching to amber lighting indoors in the evening, keeping bedrooms free from artificial light with blackout curtains and screen curfews, and including circadian literacy as part of health education campaigns.
How are circadian rhythms connected to ADHD and autism?
Research published in Frontiers in Neuroscience has shown that disrupted circadian rhythms are a core feature of neurodevelopmental disorders including ADHD and autism — precisely the conditions highlighted in the MAHA report. Restoring healthy light-dark cycles may help support children with these conditions alongside other interventions.