President Trump plans to appoint Dr. Mehmet Oz as one of the members of his Council on Sport, Fitness, and Nutrition, the White House announced Friday.
The council has been around since 1956 and promotes programs that encourage people to be more active and to make healthy eating choices. Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots was also among the 20 appointees.
Oz, the host of the “Dr. Oz Show,” interviewed Trump when he was running for president. During the segment Trump provided a one-page report typed by his longtime physician, Dr. Harold Bornstein. He revealed that he was overweight, takes a statin, and had not been in the hospital since he had his appendix removed as a child.
Oz wrote on Twitter that he has already been working to support programs for children’s health and signaled that he looked forward to improving nutrition in schools.
I’ve been supporting children’s health programs with @HealthCorps and appreciate the need to improve lifestyle opportunities for our youth. Serving on @FitnessGov offers a platform to amplify the best practices shown to work across our school systems. https://t.co/dOgapXQinI
— Dr. Mehmet Oz (@DrOz) May 4, 2018
Oz, a heart surgeon, has come under fire in the past by other doctors and by lawmakers who say that he has promoted unscientific medical approaches on his show. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., told Oz during a hearing on weight-loss scams that “the scientific community is almost monolithic against you in terms of the efficacy of the three products you call miracles.”
Oz, who came to prominence after being promoted by Oprah Winfrey, also drew criticism in 2011 when he did a show on the alleged dangers of arsenic in apple juice and another show in 2012 that focused on turning gay people straight, a practice that has been rejected by medical associations.
