The American Academy of Sleep Medicine sent a letter to the members of the Make America Healthy Again Commission to provide feedback on sleep-related issues addressed in “The MAHA Report: Make our Children Healthy Again Assessment,” which was released by the commission in May. The letter commends the commission for emphasizing that sleep is foundational to health and that American children — particularly adolescents — face “a nationwide sleep crisis.”
MAHA strategy and sleep health
The letter also urges the commission to prioritize sleep health as it develops a strategy to present to President Trump in August. Specifically, the letter asks the commission to support several sleep-related policies and initiatives: later school start times for middle school and high school students, permanent standard time, robust funding for the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, and continuation of the “Safe to Sleep” campaign. The letter concludes by correcting the report’s misrepresentation of adenotonsillectomy for children with sleep apnea, which remains the first-line treatment for pediatric sleep apnea.
Read the AASM letter to the MAHA Commission.
