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False Claim of the Week: The U.S. Obesity Rate Dropped for the First Time in 50 Years During Donald Trump’s Second Term

NewsGuard’s “False Claim of the Week” highlights a claim from NewsGuard’s False Claim Fingerprints, a proprietary database of provably false claims and their debunks. The claim that the U.S. obesity rate dropped for the first time in 50 years during Donald Trump’s second administration is NewsGuard’s “False Claim of the Week” due to its widespread appearance across social media platforms and websites, its high engagement levels, and the high-profile nature of the sources promoting it. Those three factors, as well as its significant subject matter and potential for harm, make it our False Claim of the Week.

What’s happening: U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. falsely credited President Donald Trump’s second administration with an historic decline in obesity rates, a claim that was amplified by 72 news websites associated with Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned TV stations.

Context: Speaking at a June 16, 2026, event in Michigan hosted by the conservative think tank America First Policy Institute, Kennedy said: “Since President Trump came into office, obesity rates in this country have dropped by 2.5 percent....

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