The CDC Division I Spent 15 Years Building Is in Peril

The U.S. is in the midst of a chronic disease crisis. The Trump administration’s focus on chronic diseases as part of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement is long overdue. More than 40% of U.S. adults now have obesity, and by 2030, estimates predict that nearly 50% will suffer from obesity and its associated diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, liver disease, and 13 types of cancer. Controlling this epidemic will require effective, evidence-based preventive efforts that improve diet, increase physical activity, and provide access to quality care and treatment.

I know this firsthand because I served as the first director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO) at the CDC from 1997-2012. Throughout our efforts at CDC, we built a foundation of trusted public health tools and programs that health professionals and communities rely on daily. We created CDC’s growth charts, which pediatricians use to track children’s growth, and the Body Mass Index calculator, a tool accessed over a million times per month.

My division also developed the annual state obesity maps — an essential dataset for tracking trends in states and targeting prevention efforts where they are needed most. We funded essential programs like fresh food access for infants, breastfeeding support in hospitals, and produce “prescriptions” that help patients manage chronic conditions through diet. These real-world tools saved lives.

Our division’s reach extended beyond federal resources and included financial support for community- and state-based efforts to prevent and mitigate chronic diseases. These include the State Physical Activity and Nutrition Program (SPAN), the High Obesity Program (HOP), and innovative local community programs. These programs reached 17 states, 50 communities and tribal organizations, and 16 land-grant universities. These state and community programs focus on improving physical activity and nutrition while reducing health disparities. DNPAO plays a vital role in preventing and managing obesity through these evidence-based interventions, national surveillance tools, and public health guidance.

However, the division I spent a decade and a half building is now facing the deepest cuts we have ever seen. The House Appropriations Committee’s fiscal year 2027 bill would cut DNPAO’s budget by nearly 70% — from $54.32 million to $16.5 million. That is not a trim: it dismantles the division. The Senate has not yet released its own number, which makes it essential they renew the commitment to DNPAO.

GLP-1 medications provide an effective treatment for obesity, but even the best of these medications will not substantially reduce the prevalence of obesity due to cost and access issues. CDC’s state programs focusing on prevention are essential to reduce the influx of new patients with obesity. Prevention efforts should focus on children and families, and the provision of healthful foods. DNPAO needs to be able to expand the SPAN to all 50 states; continue support for HOP and Active People, Healthy Nation; build state-level chronic disease prevention capacity; and scale local community interventions to prevent obesity and related chronic conditions.

The threat to this work isn’t limited to the appropriations bill. In June 2025, the administration proposed folding CDC’s chronic disease programs, including DNPAO, into a new agency outside the CDC altogether — the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA). Whatever the merits of consolidation on paper, the practical effect would be the same as the funding cut: state and local health departments would lose the surveillance systems, technical assistance, and community-level infrastructure they depend on. MAHA’s goals cannot be met with reorganization while cutting the imperative programs inside them.

While the MAHA movement encourages Americans to take control of their health, the administration is simultaneously considering cuts that will obliterate the tools and data used by individuals and their healthcare practitioners to manage their health. Without continued DNPAO funding, state and community health departments and healthcare providers will lose access to the resources and support they need to address the chronic disease crisis. We can’t make America healthy again by dismantling the institutions necessary to do just that.