Explainers

The Obesity Epidemic: Biology and Environment Explained

Published by When Notes Fly

https://whennotesfly.com/explainers/how-it-works/what-is-the-obesity-epidemic

When Notes Fly knowledge-library article flagged by an internal fact-check audit for a remaining factual inaccuracy.

Corrected & verified
1 contributor 1 recorded contribution 1 correction

Who created and checked this page

Correction

Emir BaycanExpert Contributor

Correction history

Every accepted correction to this page is recorded with the exact change, so readers can see how the page improved over time.

  1. 19 July 2026 · corrected by Emir Baycan

    Corrected the obesity-prevalence statistic on When Notes Fly's obesity epidemic explainer: the 42.4% figure was mislabeled as "as of 2020" when 2020 was only the publication year of the NHANES report; the actual measurement period was 2017-2018.

    Before

    As of 2020, 42.4% of American adults have obesity.

    After

    Based on the 2017-2018 NHANES survey cycle (published 2020), 42.4% of American adults have obesity.

    Why: The 42.4% obesity-prevalence figure was correctly cited from the CDC/NCHS NHANES data, but the article mislabeled it as "as of 2020" when 2020 was only the year the report was published. The actual measurement period was the 2017-2018 survey cycle. Fixed in the body (2 mentions), the excerpt, and the FAQ answer about why obesity increased since 1980.

    View the full record →

Full contribution timeline

  1. Correction 19 July 2026

    Emir Baycan: Corrected the obesity-prevalence statistic on When Notes Fly's obesity epidemic explainer: the 42.4% figure was mislabeled as "as of 2020" when 2020 was only the publication year of the NHANES report; the actual measurement period was 2017-2018.

    Proof record →