Fluoride and Food Stamps: Why You Should Care About Oklahoma’s Health Debate

HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. recently met with Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt to unveil a health initiative aiming to improve state health outcomes. The plan, which targets public water fluoridation and restricts SNAP purchases of sugary items, faced immediate backlash from local physicians advocating for evidence-based healthcare and better nutritional support for low-income families. In this post I give you my viewpoint.

Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain,

Oklahoma!, by Oscar Hammerstein II

You’ve probably heard my state song. It’s from a famous Broadway musical that was made into a movie, both titled Oklahoma!.

This past week HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. swept into Oklahoma City to meet with Governor Kevin Stitt to discuss his plan to “Make Oklahoma Healthy Again.” As Secretary, Kennedy’s job is to promote President Trump’s plan to “Make America Healthy Again.”

Maybe he should have scheduled a visit with Oklahoma physicians. They showed up anyway and did not exactly agree with Kennedy’s and Stitt’s priorities-fluoride in the water supply, red food dyes, and how recipients can use SNAP money (food stamps).

I’m sharing an article from Oklahoma Voice about it and what the Oklahoma State Medical Association (OSMA) posted on its website.

You may not live in Oklahoma but something similar is likely to happen in your state if it hasn’t already. I’ll conclude this post with my take on what both sides say.

Governor reveals  ‘Make Oklahoma Healthy Again’ plan with RFK  for bans on soda, red dye

By: Janelle Stecklein – June 26, 2025 1:57 pm

republished from Oklahoma Voice

OKLAHOMA CITY — In a move quickly panned by licensed health care providers, Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Thursday that he planned to “Make Oklahoma Healthy Again” by urging state agencies to stop supporting public water fluoridation, removing red food dyes from school and prison meals, and by asking the federal government to approve a request that bans food stamp recipients from purchasing soda and candy.

Stitt’s pledge came minutes after Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s secretary of Health and Human Services, criticized the state for having the 47th worst health outcomes during a raucous “MOHA” kickoff rally that drew hundreds of people to the state Capitol.

Gov. Kevin Stitt, center, pens his name during a ceremonial signing of an executive order to “Make Oklahoma Healthy Again,” as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., right, the nation’s secretary of health, and other supporters look on Thursday, June 26, 2025. (Photo by Janelle Stecklein/Oklahoma Voice)

Make Oklahoma Eat Healthy

Oklahoma has become the latest conservative state to submit a waiver to the U.S. Department of Agriculture that seeks to ban the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients from using their benefits to buy sodas, candies and other confectionery items, Stitt said. Tax dollars will no longer “continue to fund foods that are making people sick,” he said.

State officials will also work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to find more ways to promote healthy eating and to make food stamp funding go further. 

“Eating healthy foods today is going to reduce health care spending and dietary related illnesses later on in life,” Stitt said.

Fluoride and Dyes

The Republican governor also said he’s instructed the Oklahoma State Department of Health to stop recommending fluoride in public water.

“Cities and water districts, they can still choose to do what they want, based on their constituents and the science, but it’s no longer going to be a recommendation for the state health department,” Stitt said.

And Stitt said he’s instructed all state agencies that provide meals to Oklahomans to discontinue their use of artificial dyes. He also plans to convene an advisory counsel to recommend other changes that can improve health outcomes across the state.

SCREENSHOT OF LOCAL NEWSPAPER COVERAGE, SOURCE NOT IDENTIFIED

Oklahoma’s Physicians Go to OKC

Stitt’s plans immediately faced criticism from licensed medical providers who showed up en masse at the rally, holding signs reading “Support Evidence-Based Health Care”, “Encourage Immunizations,” and “Protect Medicaid.” 

Dr. Steven Crawford, chair of the Oklahoma Alliance for Healthy Families, said it would be “disastrous” for children’s health to remove fluoride from water.

“We do know that appropriate public water fluoridation prevents cavities,” he said. “And how do you help children get better nutrition when they don’t have adequate dentition or teeth to be able to eat the food? So I am so sad that the governor is advocating removing appropriate fluoride from public water.”

it would be “disastrous” for children’s health to remove fluoride from water…appropriate public water fluoridation prevents cavities. And how do you help children get better nutrition when they don’t have adequate dentition or teeth to eat the food?

Dr. Steven Crawford, Family Physician,Professor Emeritus,
Senior Associate Dean, Office of Healthcare Innovation and Policy , University of Oklahoma College of Medicine

Crawford said fluoridation of public water and immunizations are two of the major health benefits over the past century and have been critical to improving the state’s and nation’s health outcomes.

He said removing candy and sugary drinks from the list of approved food stamp items isn’t inappropriate, but Stitt neglected to mention that many recipients already don’t get enough resources to buy healthy foods.

The governor also didn’t discuss increasing food stamp funding to ensure children are getting adequate nutrition, particularly during the summer months when they are not eating at school, he said.

Secretary Kennedy avoids vaccine mention

Kennedy, who participated in a staged, ceremonial executive order signing with Stitt, praised the governor’s actions. 

“I am so gratified by these actions that are being taken by Gov. Stitt to make Oklahoma healthy again,” Kennedy said.

Spectators heckled Kennedy throughout his speech that focused on America’s soaring rates of obesity, diabetes, and autism, declines in the nation’s fertility rates, and a drop in American teenage boys’ testosterone levels.

Kennedy, who has been criticized as being a vaccine skeptic, did not mention immunizations during his address.

At one point, a state trooper was seen escorting two bystanders from the crowd after one began shouting something unintelligible at Kennedy. A spokesperson for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol did not respond to a request for comment about the encounter.

Kennedy said when people ask him if he’s taking soda and sugary drinks away from Americans, he tells them that they should have the right to drink a bottle of soda.

“We live in a country where we have individual freedom,” he said. 

The federal government just should not be paying for it, he said.

“We’re paying for them at the front end by buying soda for the poorest Americans, and then we’re paying for it (on) the back end with this diabetes, for Medicaid and Medicare,” Kennedy said. “And it doesn’t make any sense. We are poisoning the American people.”

He said electing leaders like Stitt will change the way we do things in the U.S. to give American children a better chance of growing up healthy.

This story is republished under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

“Solutions not Slogans” from Oklahoma Doctors

Many of the physicians who attended the event are members of the OSMA, the Oklahoma State Medical Association. (I am a Life Member of the OSMA).

The event was not announced in advance, but with short notice they left their practices for the day to attend the meeting. They also offered their own solutions for “making Oklahoma’s citizens healthy.”

“We agree that Oklahoma’s health needs must be addressed, but we don’t need Washington slogans. We need real solutions and Oklahoma policymakers who are willing to stand up for Oklahoma patients,”

Oklahoma State Medical Association President Sumit Nanda, M.D.
Physicians advocate for evidence-based healthcare, hospital funding, immunizations, and Medicaid; from Facebook

“Primary care is the front line of better health—and that includes science-backed public health efforts like vaccines, preventive care, and chronic disease management.

When we ignore evidence, devalue education, and politicize science, we don’t just fall behind—we fail our people.”

Oklahoma Academy of Family Physicians President Rachel Franklin, M.D., FAAFP

Five Practical Ways to Make Oklahoma Healthy

from the OSMA website

  1. Invest in health care infrastructure and education by funding hospitals in rural and urban parts of the state, increasing educational opportunities for doctors and dentists, and growing incentives for them to practice in underserved areas.
  2. Educate Oklahomans about the importance of science-based preventive health care, including wellness visits, dental visits, immunizations, and fluoridation of public water.
  3. Put Oklahoma tax dollars back in Oklahoma by restoring the DOGE funding cuts to health care.
  4. Stop insurance company overreach. When insurance companies delay or deny care recommended by a doctor or dentist, patients pay the price.
  5. Protect Oklahoma’s children and most vulnerable patients by ensuring Medicaid is fully funded.

“where health comes sweepin’down the plain”

These issues and ideas are not unique to Oklahoma. All states need these practical solutions to promote healthy lifestyles and provide optimal medical care when needed.

Contrary to what RFK and others say, physicians are not “keeping patients sick” just to make money. Quite the contrary. Physicians are frustrated because their efforts to prevent illness are often not supported by insurance companies, businesses, the government, and sometimes patients themselves.

Physicians know that food intake plays a major role in promoting health and preventing disease. But trying to micromanage people’s diets by limiting their choices may not be the most efficient and effective way to do so.

Limiting SNAP recipients’ choices seems punitive, not helpful. And I wonder how it will be enforced. What counts as “soda” and what exactly is “candy”? Fruit juice is as high in sugar as soft drinks. Limiting a single source of excess sugar is unlikely to make much difference overall. Perhaps they should provide incentives for buying fresh produce.

The governor didn’t say to ban fluoride in the drinking water, but forbids the state health department from recommending it. If the health department can’t endorse something as basic as fluoride to prevent cavities, then why even exist? And maybe that’s the point.

“Healthcare should be backed by science and carried out by healthcare providers with their patients. Preventive care, immunizations and regular wellness checks are vital in protecting an individual’s health.

Dr. Steven Crawford, Chairman of the Oklahoma Alliance for Healthy Families.

Oklahoma doctors will continue advocating for the health and healthcare of our citizens and I hope the physicians in your area do the same.

Please learn about healthcare issues in your state. Feel inspired to do your part to keep your family and community healthy. I use these sources for state and national healthcare news.

KFF Health News

Health Care-News From The States

Exploring the HEART of Health

Here’s the link to listen to Oklahoma!, my state song.

Oklahoma State Song and Anthem

I’d love for you to follow this blog. I share information and inspiration to help you turn health challenges into health opportunities.

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Dr. Aletha

Find my other posts on this topic, or any others you need information about.

You can watch the movie Oklahoma! on Amazon Prime at this link

Fighting the Crisis of Firearm Injury in Children

In this post I share the White House’s MAHA report which aims to address the childhood chronic disease crisis but omits gun violence. Guns are a leading cause of death among children. Recent studies show that permissive gun laws correlate with increased firearm deaths,. This suggests we need better policies and community interventions to protect youth from this public health emergency.

The objective of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) report from the White House is to “turn the tide and better protect our children”. The report goes on to state that it will

“study the scope of the childhood chronic disease crisis and any potential contributing causes, including the American diet, absorption of toxic material, medical treatments, lifestyle, environmental factors, Government policies, food production techniques, electromagnetic radiation, and corporate influence or cronyism;”

President Trump and Secretary Kennedy at the MAHA commission meeting

I have not read the entire report, but by reviewing the table of contents, I see no mention of violence, especially gun violence. Unless it’s implied under “environmental factors”, “Government policies”, or “corporate influence.”

Violence may not technically be a “chronic disease,” but it certainly is chronic in frequency, so I wonder why it’s not mentioned in the MAHA report. The physicians quoted in this story from Oklahoma Voice think it should be, and I agree.

Guns kill more US children than other causes, but state policies can help, study finds

by Nada Hassanein, Oklahoma Voice
June 17, 2025

(reprinted under Creative Commons license)

More American children and teens die from firearms than any other cause, but there are more deaths — and wider racial disparities — in states with more permissive gun policies, according to a new study.

The study, published in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics last week, analyzes trends in state firearm policies and kids’ deaths since 2010. That’s the time of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in McDonald v. City of Chicago. The ruling struck down the city’s handgun ban, clearing the way for many states to make it easier for people to buy and carry guns.

The study authors split states into three groups: “most permissive,” “permissive” and “strict,” based on the stringency of their firearm policies. Those policies include safe storage laws, background checks and so-called Stand Your Ground laws. The researchers analyzed homicide and suicide rates and the children’s race.

Using statistical methods, the researchers calculated 6,029 excess deaths in the most permissive states between 2011 and 2023, compared with the number of deaths that would have been expected under the states’ pre-McDonald rules. There were 1,424 excess deaths in the states in the middle category.

In total, about 17,000 deaths were expected in the post-decision period, but 23,000 occurred, said lead author Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, in an interview.

Among the eight states with the strictest laws, four — California, Maryland, New York and Rhode Island — saw statistically significant decreases in their pediatric firearm death rates.

Illinois, which was directly affected by the court’s decision in the McDonald case, and Connecticut saw increases in their rates. In Massachusetts and New Jersey, the changes were not statistically significant.

The rate increased in all but four (Alaska, Arizona, Nebraska and South Dakota) of the 41 states in the two permissive categories. (Hawaii was not included in the study due its low rates of firearm deaths.)

Non-Hispanic Black children and teens saw the largest increase in firearm deaths in the 41 states with looser gun laws. Those youths’ mortality rates increased, but by a much smaller amount, in the states with strict laws.

Photo by Photo By: Kaboompics.com on Pexels.com

The Power of Gun Violence Policy

Experts say the study underscores the power of policy to help prevent firearm deaths among children and teens. The analysis comes less than a month after the release of a federal report on children’s health.

This report highlighted the drivers of poor health in America’s children but failed to include anything on firearm injuries — the leading cause of death for children and teens in 2020 and 2021, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Trauma surgeon Dr. Marie Crandall, chair of surgery at MetroHealth Medical Center and a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, researches gun violence. She previously practiced at a Jacksonville, Florida, urban trauma unit, where she frequently saw children and teens caught in gun violence.

“When I see children come in with 10 holes in them that I can’t save — that is a loss. That is a completely preventable death, and it is deeply emotionally scarring to have to have those conversations with families when we know, as a society, there are things we could do to de-escalate,”

Dr. Marie Crandall, trauma surgeon

In her state of Ohio, firearm death rates among children and teens increased from 1.6 per 100,000 kids in the decade before the McDonald decision to 2.8 after it, according to the study. Ohio was categorized in the group with the most permissive laws.

The study adds to previous research that shows state laws around child access to firearms, such as safe storage and background checks, tend to be associated with fewer child firearm deaths.

“We know that child access prevention decreases unintentional injuries and suicides of children. So having your firearms locked, unloaded, stored separately from ammunition, decreases the likelihood of childhood injuries,” Crandall said. “More stringent regulation of those things also decreases childhood injuries.”

But she said it’s hard to be optimistic about more stringent regulation when the current administration dismisses gun violence as a public health emergency. The Trump administration earlier this year took down an advisory from the former U.S. Surgeon General, issued last year, that emphasized gun violence as a public health crisis.

Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

Gun Violence is a Public Health Issue

Faust, the lead author of the new study, stressed that firearm injuries and deaths were notably missing from the Make America Healthy Again Commission report on children’s health. He said the failure to include them illustrates the politicization of a major public health emergency for America’s kids.

“It’s hard to take them seriously if they’re omitting the leading cause of death,” Faust said. “They’re whiffing, they’re shanking. They’re deciding on a political basis not to do it. I would say by omitting it, they’re politicizing it.”

Dr. Jeremy Faust, Emergency Medicine physician

Faust and pediatric trauma surgeon Dr. Chethan Sathya, who directs the Center for Gun Violence Prevention at the Northwell Health system in New York, each pointed to car seat laws and public health education, as examples of preventive strategies that helped reduce childhood fatalities. They support a similar approach to curbing youth gun deaths.

“We really have to apply a public health framework to this issue, not a political one, and we’ve done that with other issues in the past,” said Sathya, who wasn’t involved in the study and oversees his hospital’s firearm injury prevention programs. “There’s no question that this is a public health issue.”

Politics and Gun Violence

In Louisiana, categorized as one of the 30 most permissive states, the child firearm mortality rate increased from 4.1 per 100,000 kids in the pre-McDonald period to 5.7 after it — the nation’s highest rate. The study period only goes to 2023, but the state last year enacted a permitless carry law, allowing people to carry guns in public without undergoing background checks. And just last month, Louisiana legislators defeated a bill that would have created the crime of improper firearm storage.

Louisiana Democratic state Rep. Matthew Willard, who sponsored the safe storage legislation, said during the floor debate that its purpose was to protect children. Louisiana had the highest rate of unintentional shootings by children between 2015 to 2022, according to the research arm of Everytown for Gun Safety, which advocates for stricter gun access. Willard cited that statistic on the floor.

But Republican opponents said Willard’s proposal would infringe on residents’ gun rights and make it more difficult for them to use guns in self-defense.

“Nobody needs to come in our houses and tell us what to do with our guns. I think this is ridiculous,” Republican Rep. R. Dewith Carrier said during the debate.

Another Republican opponent, state Rep. Troy Romero, said he was concerned that having a firearm locked away would make it harder for an adult to quickly access it.

“If it’s behind a locked drawer, how in the world are you going, at 2 or 3 in the morning, going to be able to protect your family if somebody intrudes or comes into your home?” Romero said.

Gun violence researcher Julia Fleckman, an assistant professor, and her team at Tulane University in New Orleans have started to collect data on the impact of the state’s permitless carry law.

“It places a disproportionate impact on really vulnerable people, really, our most vulnerable people,” Fleckman said, noting kids bear the brunt of legislators’ decisions. “They don’t have a lot of control over this or the decisions we’re making.”

In South Carolina, another of the most permissive states, the mortality rate increased from 2.3 to 3.9 per 100,000 kids in the time before and after the McDonald decision.

South Carolina Democratic state Rep. JA Moore, who lost his adult sister in the 2015 racist shooting that killed nine at a Charleston church, said state policy alone isn’t enough. He implored his colleagues to also examine their perception of guns.

“We have a culture here in South Carolina that doesn’t lend itself to a more safe South Carolina,” said Moore, who advocates for background checks and stricter carry laws. “There is a need for a culture change in our state, in our country, when it comes to guns and our relationships with guns as Americans, realizing that these are deadly weapons.”

And investing in safer neighborhoods is crucial, he said.

“People are hurt by guns in places that they’re more comfortable, like their homes in their own neighborhoods,” he said.

“There is a need for a culture change in our state, in our country, when it comes to guns and our relationships with guns as Americans, realizing that these are deadly weapons.”

State Representative JA Moore

Community Gun Control Efforts

Community-based interventions are important to stemming violence, experts said. Dr. Crandall, Cleveland surgeon, said there’s emerging evidence that hospital-based and community-based violence prevention programs decrease the likelihood of violent and firearm-related injury.

Such programs aim to break cycles of violence by connecting injured patients with community engagement services. After New York City implemented its hospital-based violence interruption program, two-thirds of 3,500 violent trauma patients treated at five hospitals received community prevention services.

After her 33-year-old son was killed in her neighborhood in 2019, Michelle Bell started M-PAC Cleveland — “More Prayer, Activity & Conversation” — a nonprofit collaborative of people who’ve lost loved ones to violent crime. She’s encountered many grieving parents who lost their children to gunfire. The group advocates and educates for safe storage laws and holds peer grief support groups.

She also partners with the school district in a program that shares stories of gun violence’s long-lasting impact on surviving children, families, and communities and non-violent interpersonal conflict resolution.

“Oftentimes, the family that has lost the child, the child’s life has been taken by gun violence, there are other children in the home,” she said.

“It’s so devastating. It’s just so tragic that the No. 1 cause of death for children 18 and under is gun violence,” Bell continued.

The decision to “pull a trigger,” she said, changes a “lifetime of not only yours, but so many other people.”

This story is republished under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

“Oklahoma Voice provides independent, nonpartisan reporting that holds officials accountable and elevates the voices of those too often sidelined by the political process. We’re part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.”

Personal Gun Ownership-Right and Responsibility

You may be thinking, what about the Second Amendment to the Constitution, the right to “keep and bear arms”?

I don’t think anyone suggests repealing that amendment, although some may want to. The “arms” and guns available today are far more powerful than those in 1791. Would the authors of the Constitution think citizens need to own and use assault rifles?

If you own or use guns, use them wisely and safely, especially if there is any chance children or teens might have access to them.

Even the NRA, National Rifle Association, has NRA Gun Safety Rules.

At the NRA, firearm education and safety is paramount—that’s why we offer a variety of programs and services to promote the safe handling, use and storage of firearms. Whether you’re a parent in search of information about firearm safety in the home, a first-time gun owner, or an old pro looking to brush up on your firearm handling skills, the NRA is here to keep you and your family safe.

Exploring the HEART of Health

for your consideration
  • How has gun violence touched you and your family?
    • How safe do you feel from the risk of injury from firearms?
  • How does this article change what you already know about gun violence?
  • What else would you like to know about how guns affect the health of our communities?

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You can find other posts about guns and violence by searching in this box.

Dr. Aletha