(NewsNation) — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. discussed an “unrelenting upward trend” highlighted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest autism rates among American children on Wednesday.
Kennedy called autism spectrum disorder a “preventable disease,” and asserted that “we know it’s an environmental exposure, it has to be.”
The CDC’s report found that a record 1 in 31 children are diagnosed with autism by the age of 8 in the United States.
Kennedy pointed to the heightened diagnosis rates as proof of the developmental disability being an “epidemic,” of which he has vowed to find the cause by September.
1 in 31 US children have autism: CDC data
The CDC looked at geographic location, race and gender of those diagnosed with autism as of 2022.
Boys continue to be diagnosed more than girls, according to the report, and the highest rates are among Asian American, Pacific Islander, American Indian, Alaska Native and Black children.
The CDC’s data from 14 states and Puerto Rico was taken in 2022, which saw the latest increase in diagnoses. Data from 2020 showed that 1 in 36 children had autism, while that number was 1 in 150 in the early aughts.
Health and school records for children aged 4 and 8 across the nation showed that more kids are being diagnosed earlier.
Some health officials and autism advocacy groups have attributed these growing diagnoses to a better understanding of the autism spectrum and broadened screening and criteria.
On Wednesday, Kennedy pushed back against the attribution, labeling it “epidemic denial” to ignore potential environmental exposure links.
“One of the things that I think we need to move away from today is this ideology that the autism prevalence increases, the relentless increases, are simply artifacts of better diagnoses, better recognition or changing diagnostic criteria,” Kennedy said.
RFK Jr. launching autism cause investigation
Kennedy has routinely called autism an epidemic and has vowed to launch a “massive testing and research effort” to discover the underlying causes of autism in the coming months.
“By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic, and we will be able to eliminate those exposures,” Kennedy said last week.
Nonprofit advocacy group Autism Speaks refuted the idea that more diagnoses make autism an “epidemic” and has called the latest data a reflection of “diagnostic progress,” NewsNation partner The Hill reported.
RFK Jr., Trump’s vaccine skepticism
While the cause of autism spectrum disorder isn’t fully understood, the CDC and other agencies have long ruled out childhood vaccines. Some research has looked at genetics, the age of the father or biological predisposition as some possible sources.
Despite multiple studies disproving a causal link between vaccines and autism, Kennedy and President Donald Trump continue to tout anti-vaccine sentiment.
During a Cabinet meeting last week, Trump posited that autism could be caused by “something artificial,” adding, “maybe it’s a shot.”
Trump and Kennedy referred to the 1-in-31 estimate the CDC released Tuesday during last week’s White House meeting, and Kennedy repeated the statistic at a meeting with FDA officials Friday.
In an interview on “CUOMO,” Kennedy said, “We’re incorporating an agency within the CDC that is going to specialize in vaccine injuries … We are committed to having gold standard science.”
Before his confirmation, Kennedy had sparked concerns from lawmakers, including Sen. Mitch McConnell, due to his record of spreading misinformation regarding vaccines. Since taking his position, Kennedy has been inconsistent and unclear on his messaging, specifically regarding the measles vaccine.
Experts say Kennedy’s messaging has made it difficult to contain the current outbreaks. Kennedy has occasionally endorsed several vaccines, including those for measles and mumps, as “effective.” However, he also claimed the vaccines were “not safely tested” in a CBS interview.
What is the MAHA movement?
The Make America Healthy Again movement is “more than a slogan,” Kristin Davis, a former publicist for Kennedy’s presidential campaign Common Sense PAC, told NewsNation.
“It’s a nationwide movement committed to restoring the health and well-being of the American people by addressing the root causes of our nation’s health crisis,” Davis said.
The movement’s website says it advocates for addressing the origin of chronic illnesses and will focus on preventive health care and better-quality food.
In an interview on “CUOMO,” daytime television psychologist “Dr. Phil” McGraw said, “We have one of the sickest generations of young people of any developed countries. We’re 33 out of 38 among developed countries right now in terms of the presence of chronic disease in young people.”
Some of Kennedy’s objectives include:
- Stopping the use of fluoride in drinking water
- Banning artificial food dye
- Finding the cause of autism by September
The Associated Press contributed to this report.