A CDC Division Built Over 15 Years Faces Devastating Cuts

The United States is confronting a chronic disease crisis. The Trump administration’s focus on chronic disease prevention through the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative is long overdue. More than 40% of U.S. adults have obesity, and projections suggest that nearly half will have obesity and related conditions—such as heart disease, diabetes, liver disease and 13 types of cancer—by 2030. Addressing this epidemic will require effective, evidence-based prevention efforts that improve diets, increase physical activity and expand access to quality care and treatment.

I saw this challenge firsthand as the first director of the CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO), a position I held from 1997 to 2012. During that time, we helped build a foundation of trusted public health tools and programs that health professionals and communities rely on every day. We developed the CDC growth charts used by pediatricians to monitor children’s development and the Body Mass Index calculator, which is accessed more than a million times each month.

My division also created the annual state obesity maps, an essential resource for tracking trends and directing prevention efforts where they are most needed. We funded programs that increased access to fresh foods for infants, supported breastfeeding in hospitals and provided produce prescriptions to help patients manage chronic conditions through healthier diets. These practical interventions have saved lives.

DNPAO’s work extended beyond federal resources to include financial support for state and community efforts to prevent and reduce chronic disease. Programs such as the State Physical Activity and Nutrition Program, the High Obesity Program and other local initiatives reached 17 states, 50 communities and tribal organizations, and 16 land-grant universities. These programs promote physical activity and better nutrition while addressing health disparities. Through evidence-based interventions, national surveillance systems and public health guidance, DNPAO plays a critical role in preventing and managing obesity.

Yet the division I helped build over 15 years now faces the deepest cuts in its history. A fiscal year 2027 bill from the House Appropriations Committee would reduce DNPAO’s budget by nearly 70%, from $54.32 million to $16.5 million. This is not a modest reduction; it would effectively dismantle the division. The Senate has not yet released its proposed funding level, making its continued commitment to DNPAO essential.

GLP-1 medications can effectively treat obesity, but cost and access barriers mean that even the best available drugs cannot substantially reduce obesity rates on their own. CDC prevention programs remain crucial to limiting the number of new patients who develop obesity. These efforts should prioritize children and families while improving access to nutritious foods. DNPAO should be able to expand the State Physical Activity and Nutrition Program to all 50 states, continue supporting the High Obesity Program and Active People, Healthy Nation, strengthen state-level chronic disease prevention and scale up community interventions.

The threat to this work extends beyond the appropriations bill. In June 2025, the administration proposed moving the CDC’s chronic disease programs, including DNPAO, into a new agency outside the CDC: the Administration for a Healthy America. Whatever the theoretical benefits of such consolidation, the practical result could resemble a funding cut. State and local health departments could lose the surveillance systems, technical assistance and community infrastructure they depend on. MAHA’s goals cannot be achieved by reorganizing programs while stripping away their essential functions.

While MAHA encourages Americans to take greater control of their health, the administration is considering cuts that could eliminate the tools and data used by individuals and health care professionals to manage chronic disease. Without continued DNPAO funding, state and community health departments and health care providers would lose vital resources and support. The nation cannot improve its health by dismantling the institutions needed to achieve that goal.

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