Gov. Kevin Stitt (R-OK) revealed Thursday that Oklahoma is taking multiple steps to match the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, something he said residents “really” want.
Stitt discussed the overhaul with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who commended the “extraordinary outpouring of enthusiasm and cooperation” that the administration has received over this initiative. The governor’s announcement mirrors attempts by other states to reshape their health, with Stitt saying Oklahoma faces the same challenge in combating childhood obesity across the United States.
“So what can we do to improve that health? And so I’ve got a request to, on the [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] waiver request right now on the [Department of Agriculture’s] desk to remove soda, confectionary foods, candy from being able to be used for SNAP benefits,” Stitt previewed on Fox News’s The Faulkner Focus. “So that’s one thing, and then I’m signing an executive order today to make sure that the food we feed kids in schools and also prisons — any state-sponsored food — we eliminate any kind of artificial dyes.”
Stitt also said he is removing the recommendation to have fluoride in Oklahoma’s water to follow Kennedy’s “lead” on health. The HHS secretary explained that science is “very clear” on fluoride, citing how a National Toxicology Program report says a “direct inverse correlation” exists between fluoride intake in water and intelligence quotient loss.
Kennedy suggested that it is up to parents to decide whether or not to give their children fluoride. He argued that consuming it in water “made a lot of sense in the 1940s,” but toothpaste and mouthwash containing fluoride are now readily available.
In sharing NTP’s report, the program clarified that it had insufficient data to determine if the fluoride level recommended for the U.S.’s community water supply had a negative effect on the IQ of children.
Utah became the first state to ban fluoride from its public water system when Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) signed a bill on the matter in March. Florida followed in May, with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) equating putting fluoride in water to “basically force[ing] medication on people.”
US WON’T CONTRIBUTE TO GLOBAL VACCINE GROUP GAVI UNTIL IT HAS ‘RE-EARNED’ TRUST: RFK JR.
Similarly, Oklahoma’s request to remove junk food and sugary snacks from its SNAP mirrors what other states have done. Nebraska became the first state to remove soda and energy drinks from its SNAP benefits once Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins approved its waiver; she has since signed similar waivers for Indiana and Iowa.
All three states will have their SNAP changes go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026.