Celebrity fitness trainer Jillian Michaels sounded the alarm on America’s “horrifying” health crisis, demanding the country take action to address the issues behind chronic disease plaguing the nation.
Michaels addressed the crisis during “Fox & Friends,” warning that ultra-processed, chemical-ridden food is fueling the alarming obesity and disease rates nationwide.
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“The statistics are horrifying,” Michaels said Wednesday. “It’s not a question anymore. It is not nuanced. It’s simply right or wrong, good against evil. And the reality is, I can sit here, and I can tell everybody, ‘Hey, guys… eat less and move more and use common sense with your food choices, but the reality is that you can be thin and still get cancer and still get type 2 diabetes.”
Michaels testified before Congress this week, calling out food companies for promoting ultra-processed, chemical-ridden foods, which are often budget-friendly and marketed to children.
Experts have linked these products to higher obesity rates and many chronic diseases.
“It’s become harder and harder for people to take agency and enact change for the reasons we’re laying out for you today,” she testified on Monday. “And ultimately, I have discovered that despite my best efforts and the efforts of people here like me, Americans need systemic help, and they need it urgently.”
Michaels’ urgent call for action comes as a recent study, published in the journal The Lancet Public Health, found that certain types of cancers are more prevalent among Gen X and millennials.
Researchers found that the prevalence of small intestine cancer, kidney cancer and pancreatic cancer was two to three times higher in those born in 1990 than those born in 1955 for both males and females, and for liver cancer in females, according to an ACS press release.
Rates were also higher among younger groups for breast cancer (estrogen-receptor positive), uterine cancer, colorectal cancer, non-cardia gastric cancer, gallbladder cancer, ovarian cancer, testicular cancer, anal cancer in males and Kaposi sarcoma in males, the study found.
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Other cancers that were more prevalent in younger groups included myeloma, leukemia, cardia gastric cancer, and non-HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer (in women).
There were over 23 million patients who were diagnosed with 34 different types of cancer over two decades. The patients ranged in age from 25 to 84, representing multiple generations.
“I think Americans have been ready for a real long time because they are impacted directly,” Michaels said on Wednesday. “It’s one in 30 children now has autism. Early onset cancer diagnosis [has] gone up 79% in the last 30 years. We all know someone… I’m not here to bash you over the head and alarm you with the statistics because we all know somebody. We’ve all been impacted.”
“The bigger problem, if I could get on a soapbox here, is that you guys are the only ones covering this,” she continued. “This is not a partisan issue. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but all of these other media outlets that are politicizing health and making it partisan should be ashamed. It’s despicable and disgusting, and you do not use the health of Americans to be divisive. It’s reprehensible, and I cannot commend you enough.”
Despite the high cost of living, Michaels assured Americans there are ways to buy cleaner, healthier foods and ingredients for their families by buying locally and going “organic where it counts.”
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“What we want to do is go back to the old school advice,” Michaels said. “First of all, you buy in bulk. Second, try to go to local farmers’ markets and get your produce locally. It’s more cost-effective, has less chemicals. Go organic where it counts, which is going to be dairy, beef and thin-skinned fruits and vegetables. If you can’t afford it, that’s when you go to the thick-skinned fruits and vegetables or what we call the clean 15, and you amortize those dollars.”
“But here’s the thing… when we’re talking about drugs like Ozempic… that’s a $1,200 a month, right? So now we’re finding the money. This is what I mean,” she continued. “And they want to get it paid for by the government. How about you take that money and you give people clean, healthy food.”
She noted that around two-thirds of Americans are considered overweight and/or obese, which is inextricably linked to the health crisis.
Michaels also said, despite the dismal statistics, she is hopeful Americans can invoke positive change if they continue to demand action from politicians and food companies.
“If we make a big enough deal, and we hit them from all angles, and we put them on blast, and we speak to the politicians, and we put them on blast when they do the wrong things, I think we’ll get there,” Michaels said.
“We just have to keep fighting.”
Fox News’ Melissa Rudy contributed to this report.
