Young people have rejected the “trust the science” mentality of older generations, paving the way for acceptance of the concept of “Make America Healthy Again,” according to a holistic doctor in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“I grew up in an era of thinking if it was that bad for us, it really shouldn’t be put in our foods, and I’m sure the government wouldn’t allow that,” Dr. Tammy Born Huizenga, who owns and operates a preventive health care clinic, told The Daily Signal in an interview. “And it turns out they were allowing it. And your generation is like, ‘I’m not sure I’m gonna trust the government in making all these decisions for me.’”
Nearly 60% of Americans have heard about Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make American Healthy Again” agenda, and the majority have a favorable view of the movement, which involves promoting healthier ingredients in foods, healthier school lunches, reducing the use of food dyes and corn syrup, and eliminating fluoride from tap water.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought the problems with American health care into focus, Huizenga said.
“COVID really brought that to light, that maybe there are forces that aren’t looking a our best interests at the government level, that we should be questioning everything,” she said.
Young people are more likely to question the status quo because they have access to more information, according to Huizenga.
“You have more available to you on your iPhone or on your computer than anyone my age ever had, so we never questioned the establishment documents,” she said. “We just assumed that what they were doing was best for us.”
What Huizenga loves about Generation Z—those born between 1997 to 2012—is what she said was the willingness to “hold our feet to the fire and say, ‘Hey, let’s do what’s right.’”
“Let’s continue down that path,” she continued. “Let’s question everything.”
