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HEALTH

The Claim

In the 1970s, about 5% of children in the United States were obese, and at the time a referenced documentary was made, about 17% of children in the United States were obese.

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The Short Version

The historical comparison is broadly accurate. CDC data put U.S. childhood obesity at roughly 5% in the early 1970s and about 17% in 2009-2010, a figure widely cited at the time. The caveat is that the 17% number depends on when the documentary was made; later estimates were higher.

Caveats

  • The 17% figure is not timeless; it matches roughly the 2009-2010 CDC estimate and later childhood obesity rates rose above that level.
  • The documentary's date is not specified, so the claim does not prove that 17% exactly matched its production or release year.
  • These CDC estimates generally refer to children and adolescents aged 2-19, not every possible definition of "children."

The Receipts

  1. Obesity — United States, 1999–2010

    CDC

  2. Health E Stats - Prevalence of Overweight, Obesity, and Severe Obesity Among Children and Adolescents Aged 2–19 Years: United States, 2017–2018

    CDC

  3. Health E-Stat 112: Prevalence of Overweight, Obesity, and Severe Obesity Among Children and Adolescents Aged 2–19 Years: United States, 1971–1974 Through August 2021–August 2023

    CDC National Center for Health Statistics

  4. Childhood Obesity Incidence in the United States

    PMC / NIH

  5. Prevalence of Overweight, Obesity, and Severe Obesity Among Children and Adolescents Aged 2–19 Years: United States, 1963–1965 Through August 2021–August 2023

    NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information)

  6. Prevalence of Overweight, Obesity, and Severe Obesity Among Youth Aged 2–19 Years: United States, 1971–1974 Through 2015–2016

    CDC National Center for Health Statistics

  7. Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Children and Adolescents: United States, 1963–1965 Through 2011–2012

    CDC National Center for Health Statistics

  8. Prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents in the United States and Canada

    Statistics Canada

  9. Extending the History of Child Obesity in the United States

    National Institutes of Health (PMC)

  10. Childhood Obesity Facts

    CDC

+ 13 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

United States

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