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Moms and dads from across the country have told us they want sound, simple and clear nutrition advice so they know the best food to put on the dinner table.

About 1 in 5 American children are obese today. In 1980, it was one in 20.

Among school-age children and adolescents, 40% have at least one chronic health condition − in the 1980s, it was less than 4%.

Not only is this health crisis threatening to upend the lives of American families for generations, but the chronic disease epidemic is the greatest contributor to U.S. health care costs − comprising about 90% of health care expenditures, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As the leaders put in charge of overseeing our nation’s food supply and human services, we have a duty to fix this. That’s why we are committed to driving transformational change at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) that will “Make America Healthy Again.” That is not just a campaign slogan; it is a movement of Americans who want the ability to make healthy choices and live longer, more fulfilling lives.

Thanks to President Donald Trump for initiating the Presidential Commission to Make America Healthy Again to fulfill the goals of the MAHA movement. The commission has two chief goals: First, it will research the scope of the childhood chronic disease crisis and the potential contributing causes. Second, it will implement policies at our respective agencies to empower American families to be healthy.

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American farmers should come first

USDA oversees 16 federal nutrition programs that ensure Americans have access to nutritious foods. We know our farmers, ranchers and producers dedicate their lives to growing the safest, most abundant food supply in the world. We need to put American farmers first and make sure our kids and families reap the benefit of their bounty.

And across HHS, from the science research at the National Institutes of Health to the safety net provided to America’s most vulnerable at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the chief goal is to make Americans healthier.

Under the scope of the Make America Healthy Again Commission banner, our two agencies are already hard at work fulfilling our dual missions.

First, we are advancing buy American policies that will get food grown by American farmers into the hands of children and families through our nutritious food programs. While the federal government will play a key role in this venture, states are making critical contributions.

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We recently visited with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has led the charge to sign MAHA legislation that limits dyes in school foods.

We know this is just the beginning. We want to work with great states and great schools like the one we visited last week, Ferdinand Elementary in Northern Virginia.

We are excited to work with other leaders around the country to advance the MAHA agenda. To that end, states should submit request approvals from our agencies on demonstration projects so state governments can experiment with ways to make their communities healthier.

Changes to SNAP benefits will promote healthier food

Second, our two agencies are pursuing reform to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). We will encourage taxpayer dollars to go toward wholesome foods, such as whole milk, fruits, vegetables and meats. For this reason, we call on all governors to submit waivers to help promote access to these critical sources of nutrition, including waivers that can limit what can be purchased with food stamps, get healthy foods to rural communities and prioritize nutritional standards in school meals.

And third, our agencies announced last month that we are joining forces to make certain the next iteration of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is steeped in science, not political science.

For too long, special interests have controlled how institutions of public health inform the American people about healthy eating and lifestyle habits. Under President Trump, that ends.

Moms and dads from across the country have told us they want sound, simple and clear nutrition advice so they know the best food to put on the dinner table.

We’re both parents ourselves. We know how seriously parents take their responsibility to feed their children nutritious food so they can thrive in school and develop into healthy adults.

A healthy person has a thousand dreams, but a sick person only has one dream. The 40% of school-age children and adolescents who have at least one chronic health condition are counting on us, state governments, local leaders and their families to make changes that will make it easier for them to pursue healthy lifestyles.

We take this mandate from President Trump and the American people seriously, and we will not begin to count our successes until we leave American families, especially our children, better off than when we started.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the secretary of Health and Human Services. Brooke L. Rollins is the secretary of Agriculture.