Culture, peers, and modest policy for healthier habits

Are Americans actually becoming less healthy?

That’s an idea that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been repeating for a while now. While there are some nuggets of truth in that – on the whole, American life expectancy has gone up a lot in Kennedy’s lifetime. So why does a backward-looking narrative serve his agenda? And what would actually move the needle forward on improving Americans’ health?

Brittany is joined by NPR health policy correspondent Selena Simmons-Duffin to get into the nuances of what “healthy” means.

Want more about modern health? Check out these episodes:
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