Legendary boxer Mike Tyson partners with Trump administration to fight obesity
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Legendary boxer Mike Tyson found himself in a new arena Wednesday as he stood alongside Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in partnering with the Trump administration to combat obesity.
“I had a sister who died at 25 from obesity. And where I’m from, Brownsville, Brooklyn, is the most violent and poorest neighborhood in New York City and ultra-processed foods were just the norm,” Tyson said. “We didn’t have a lot of money, but we had food stamps, and food stamps can buy you candy and sugar and all those sodas and all those crappy things.”
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Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. listens as Mike Tyson speaks during an event to “celebrate the implementation of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans” at Health and Human Services Headquarters February 11, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Kennedy and Rollins provided an update on the rollout of the government’s new dietary guidelines, unveiled in January. At Wednesday’s event, several speakers, including Tyson, spoke about the dangers of ultra-processed foods and the need to get Americans to shift their diets toward real foods.
“We were able to reduce hundreds of pages of dietary guidelines…to about six pages, but it’s just three words: Eat real food,” Kennedy told the crowd as he closed the event. “I’m asking you all to start doing this today if you haven’t already.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Tyson and Brooke Rollins take photos during a dietary guidelines event at HHS headquarters on February 11, 2026. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
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Tyson said that when he went to work with a trainer in upstate New York, he was given the tools to control his health. Although he admits he can “play around” and get “lazy,” allowing him to gain between 20 and 40 pounds, he says the tools he learned allowed him to lose weight quickly.
“This is the biggest fight of my life,” Tyson added. “I want to be a hero in this particular area because it affects my life.”
The event comes just days after a Super Bowl ad aired in which Tyson spoke about the importance of combating America’s dependence on processed foods. In the ad, Tyson also talks about his sister, Denise, who died at the age of 25 from an obesity-related heart attack.
The legendary boxer posted the video on his Facebook page and said it was “the most important fight of my life.”
“The most important fight of my life is not in the ring. I’m not fighting for a belt. I’m fighting for our health. Processed food is killing us. We’ve been lied to and we need to eat real food again,” Tyson wrote.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. revealed he lost weight and visceral fat after adopting a carnivore diet, although experts urge caution. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Kennedy, even during his own 2024 presidential campaign, focused on the rise of chronic diseases in the United States, which he said is linked to increased consumption of ultra-processed foods. The guidelines he and Rollins unveiled in January effectively flip the already outdated food pyramid on its head, moving protein, dairy, healthy fats, fruits and vegetables to the top of the inverted triangle, while relegating whole grains to the bottom.
“Better health starts on your plate, not in your medicine cabinet. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030 put real, whole, nutrient-dense foods where they belong: at the center of health,” reads the government’s guidelines website, RealFood.gov.
The protein goal in the new guidelines is “1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.” Additionally, the guidelines recommend Americans consume three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit each day. Meanwhile, Americans are recommended to eat two to four servings of whole grains daily, although it clarifies that refined carbohydrates are not recommended.
