US child health report slammed for citing fake studies, false authors

A controversial US government report on children's health has come under scrutiny after multiple academics named as sources said they were falsely attributed to studies that do not exist.

Originally published on May 22 and updated a week later, the report was created by the Make America Healthy Again Commission under the Department of Health and Human Services, now led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. It aimed to explore possible contributors to a rise in chronic illnesses among children, including poor nutrition, environmental toxins, stress, lack of exercise, and "overmedicalization."

However, an investigation by digital news outlet NOTUS revealed that seven of the report’s sources were fabricated. Several individuals named as authors of cited studies told journalists they had no involvement in the report and were not familiar with the supposed research.

Columbia University professor Guohua Li, who was listed as co-author of a study on children’s mental health during the pandemic, said the citation was “totally fabricated.” He added that he did not even recognize the name of his alleged co-author, Noah Kreski, another researcher at Columbia. Kreski also denied authoring the study, stating, “It doesn't appear to be a study that exists at all.”

Another cited academic, Katherine Keyes, an epidemiologist, told Reuters she had also been wrongly listed. “It does make me concerned given that citation practices are an important part of conducting and reporting rigorous science,” she said.

One of the non-existent studies was supposedly about the advertising of psychotropic medications for youth, but the named author’s university confirmed that no such research had been published.

Despite mounting criticism, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt downplayed the revelations, attributing the issue to “formatting problems,” and insisted the report’s “substance” remained intact.

The Democratic National Committee accused Kennedy’s department of "justifying its policy priorities with sources that do not exist" and pointed to additional issues in the report, such as broken links and misrepresented conclusions.

RFK Jr., who was sworn in as Health Secretary in February, has long courted controversy for promoting debunked claims linking vaccines to autism. Since taking office, he has implemented sweeping changes at the department, including mass layoffs and proposals for new vaccine approval protocols, such as requiring placebo-controlled trials.