Dr. Phil McGraw Defends Involvement in Trump Administration's Make America Healthy Again Movement: 'This Isn't a Political Issue'

Dr. Phil McGraw is tired of politics seemingly dividing everything in two.

During a guest appearance on the Monday, March 31, episode of NewsNation's CUOMO, the television personality defended his involvement in Donald Trump's administration's Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement.

Speaking to news anchor Chris Cuomo, McGraw stressed concerns over the health of children across the United States.

"We are one of the sickest generations of young people of any developed country. I think we’re 33 out of 38 among development countries…there aren’t any Democrat[ic] children, there aren’t any Republican children, they’re just American children," he declared. "This isn’t a political issue for me."

McGraw, who holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, continued: "We need to get kids off their phones and back outside in the fresh air and exercising. We need to start feeding them foods that aren’t processed. We need to make sure that the chemicals that are in our foods are the ones that need to be there to keep the foods safe."

The Life Code author admitted he doesn't "know enough about politics to discuss it intelligently," as he emphasized his interest in "cultural issues" within the country.

"I think when we look at the presence of chronic diseases among our young people. In the ‘60s, it was like 2,3,4 percent of young people had chronic diseases," he explained. "Now, it’s like 40 percent, and this is a serious problem that can be eliminated in one generation if we’ll just do a few different things that are totally doable."

Comparing meals in the United States to what people are consuming in places like Europe, McGraw noted, "there are probably 10,000 chemicals in our foods that aren’t in the foods in Europe."

"Foods aren’t meant to last forever. They’re meant to spoil," he mentioned, seemingly suggesting the United States should cut back on the amount of preservatives and chemicals used to make products last longer.

McGraw continued: "If you don’t eat them, you need to be eating foods that are more natural for our children. And if we do that, I think we’ll see this chronic disease epidemic begin to go down, and that gives our kids a chance to have a long life, a higher quality of life."

Elsewhere in the interview, McGraw urged others to challenge norms created across the country.

"We've got to have the willingness and the freedom to question the answers that we're all taking for granted," he insisted. "Why do our foods look different than European foods? Why are the colors brighter? Why are there [other ingredients] in our foods, our cereals and stuff?"

"Well, because they've got dyes and chemicals in them that they don't have in these other countries," McGraw pointed out. "We should be asking ourselves, why is that true? Why do we need that stuff in our food, and why did our children start getting sick in the mid-80s, when they started adding that stuff to our food, whether it's Skittles or these candies and this, these cooking oils that we use."