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In Their Own Words
America’s Kids Can’t Outrun a Broken Food System
Guidelines Matter, but Lasting Health Requires Investment in Better Food, More Activity, and More Targeted Tools From Medicaid and SNAP
Print:
The op-ed was published by The Hill on Jan. 21, 2026.
The updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans, released this month prioritizes “whole, nutrient-dense foods.” It makes us think of the daily routines of the children we care for in our pediatric practices.
Many of our kids skip breakfast, report low energy throughout the school day, turn to packaged snacks in the afternoons, and munch on low-cost, high-carb takeout meals at night.
As pediatricians on the front line of making America healthy, we know no amount of counseling alone will alter the reality of children’s diet-related disease. What’s needed is systemic change that creates safe spaces for physical activity, encourages supermarkets and chain restaurants to promote healthy choices in unison, and reimagines insurance programs like Medicaid to encourage health. Nutritious food and exercise options should be the default everywhere, not the exception.
Read the full op-ed.
Authors
George Dalembert, MD, MSHP
Assistant Professor, Clinical Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine
Deniz Cataltepe, MD
Pediatric Gastroenterology Fellow, Mount Sinai Hospital
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