Trump administration Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. says that he walks through airports and diagnoses children with “mitochondrial challenges and inflammation” based on their looks.

I’m looking at kids while I walk through the airports today, as I walk down the street, and I see these kids that are just overburdened with mitochondrial challenges, inflammation, you can tell it from their faces, from their body movement, and from their lack of social connection.

@cspanofficial Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday bemoaned the health of children in America, claiming he could see "mitochondrial issues" just by looking at them. "I'm looking at kids as I walk through the airports today, as I walk down the street and I see these kids that are just overburdened with mitochondrial challenges, with inflammation, you can tell from their faces, from their body movements, and from their lack of social connection, and I know that that's not how our children are supposed to look," he said. The secretary made the comments during a bill signing ceremony with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who inked three bills into law to implement higher fitness and nutrition standards in public schools and introduce warning labels on food products containing additives. Watch more by tapping the link in our bio. #rfk #health #cspan ♬ original sound – C-SPAN

Kennedy’s own health practices when traveling are questionable, at best. Flying American Airlines from Portland to Dallas he famously walked down the first class aisle to the lavatory and back barefoot.

DISGUSTING!! What sort of person walks BAREFOOT down a plane aisle — in first class, no less. Even worse, it was on his way to the toilet!

RFK Jr is a really strange dude. pic.twitter.com/tQXdYUtGfz

— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) November 13, 2023

He’s also been known to add methylene blue to his drink on American. That’s used as a stain for medical diagnostic procedures, coloring tissues or fluids to make them more visible during lymph node mapping or leak detection.

What is RFK Jr. putting in his drink…?? pic.twitter.com/R9ZXmwmfVC

— American AF (@iAnonPatriot) February 5, 2025

At lower doses, some studies suggest medical benefits – for treating neurodegenerative disorders, psychiatric conditions, and as an “anti-aging” protocol – but those are largely ‘pre-clinical’ to put it… generously. In higher doses, methylene blue can be neurotoxic and may interfere with mitochondrial function. And homeboy is pumping the gas.

The most common side effect of methylene blue is that you’ll pee blue. It can also turn skin blue, and cause headaches and dizziness. When combined with serotonergic medications, such as SSRI, it can cause excess serotonin which can be life-threatening.

But to be clear, “mitochondrial challenges” isn’t a diagnosis. Primary mitochondrial diseases are genetically and clinically heterogeneous and cannot be diagnosed by a glance. Diagnosis involves a history workup, exam, and lab tests.

Furthermore, systemic inflammation isn’t visible to the naked eye. Being in an airport doesn’t change this. It’s inferred from biomarkers and from specialized imaging and not from someone’s face while walking past them. A person’s redness and swelling may visible but that’s not a diagnosis of whole‑body inflammation.

Finally, “lack of social connection” isn’t diagnosable walking past someone in an airport and isn’t a test for autism or anything else.

If you wanted to defend the airport doctor, despite his lack of medical training, you’d say that there are a few rare mitochondrial syndromes with recognizable features where a trained clinician might then want to test for a mitochondrial disorder.

Even if you find yourself broadly liking his crackdown on medical research and innovation, drive to raise the cost of vaccination and limit availability of Covid-19 vaccines, or his pushing experts out of government service you really shouldn’t take his airport observations seriously – or mirror his inflight behaviors. Now, if he could get appointed DHS Secretary or TSA Administrator, he’d gain access to the body scanners…