Fitness Influencer Jillian Michaels Asks Karoline Leavitt About MAHA Health Improvement Goals

During Thursday’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt answered questions about MAHA research initiatives.

Transcript

00:00questions. And here in our new media seat today, we have Jillian Michaels. She's a

00:04renowned personal health expert. I know all of you know her. I certainly do, watching

00:07fitness videos growing up. And a media powerhouse who has continued to expand

00:12her reach with her podcast, Keeping It Real. Jillian, I know you're here

00:15today for the Make America Healthy Again event. We're proud to welcome you

00:19to the White House. Thanks for being in the briefing. Why don't you go ahead? Thank you for having me.

00:24As a Maha mom yourself, how do you interpret

00:27the significance of this report in terms of delivering

00:31measurable health improvements for Americans and their kids? And

00:34what specific actions does the administration plan to take

00:39in response to it? Sure. Well, thank you for the question. Again, thank you very much

00:43for being here. I would like to emphasize, we held a call earlier

00:47today with Secretary Kennedy, Secretary Rollins, Administrator Zeldin,

00:51and other officials at Health and Human Services to talk about the gravity of this

00:55report. When the president took office, he promised to make this country

00:58healthy again. And the president signed an executive order directing this commission.

01:03And now, less than 100 days later, the commission is delivering this report.

01:07It's another promise made and another promise kept.

01:10And the report identifies four major factors that are contributing to the rise in childhood

01:16chronic disease. Again, this is the first time the federal government has really recognized

01:20in a single report that we have a problem in our country. Our children are getting sicker,

01:25not healthier. This is not just a crisis, a health crisis, but it poses national security

01:31implications as well. And this administration is focused on ensuring we understand why.

01:37The four factors contributing to the report, as you will all hear from the president later,

01:42are number one, poor diet, a robust discussion about ultra-processed food that are dominating

01:47our children's diets, environmental chemical exposure, plastics, and other chemicals that

01:52are unfortunately a part of our daily American life. It talks about the lack of physical activity

01:58and chronic stress, and how technology-driven lifestyles are contributing to the decline

02:03of our children's physical and mental health. And then lastly, the report touches on the over-medicalization

02:08that's taking place in our American society. Nowhere else in the world, but just right here

02:13in the United States of America. And the report directs the entire administration to understand

02:18why these issues are happening and what public policy can the administration implement to ensure

02:24that we are fostering a more healthy country for our children. So I'll leave it at that and let the

02:29president and his team speak more about this historic report later. But this should be good news for

02:33everyone. I don't care what your politics are. We should all agree that we want our children to be

02:38healthy and safe. And we want our food supply to be healthy and safe. We have the best farmers and

02:44ranchers in the world right here in the United States of America. And we have the best workers in

02:49the world. We have the best people in the world. But unfortunately, we have a health crisis that's been

02:53plaguing us for too long. And this report speaks to the heart of it. You're welcome. Thanks for being here.