http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/
120914080904.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+News%29
Obesity More Common Among Rural Residents Than Urban Counterparts, Study Finds
ScienceDaily (Sep. 14, 2012) — A new study finds that Americans living in rural areas are
more likely to be obese than city dwellers. Published in the National Rural Health
Association's Fall 2012 Journal of Rural Health , the study indicates that residential
location may play an important role in the obesity epidemic.
Led by researchers at the University of Kansas, the study analyzed data collected by the
National Center for Health Statistics and is the first in more than three decades to use
measured heights and weights. Previous studies have relied on self-reported data, which
typically underestimate the prevalence of obesity.
Christie Befort, Ph.D., assistant professor of preventive medicine and public health at
the University of Kansas Medical Center, believes there may be two significant reasons why
rural residents are more likely to be overweight: cultural diet and physical isolation.
"There is a definite cultural diet in rural America, full of rich, homemade foods
including lots of meat and dessert," said Befort, who led the study. The study, which
also examined demographic and lifestyle factors, found that rural Americans typically
consume a diet higher in fat.
Rural residents also face challenges to accessing health care, prevention and lifestyle
activities.
"Access is often about travel time in a rural area, but it can also be that
there's no place to go -- literal physical isolation," said Befort.
"It's tough to get to a gym if you live outside of a town without one."
The research demonstrated that the rural-urban obesity disparity existed in younger
Americans, ages 20-39, but not in older age groups. Befort believes this can be partially
attributed to increased mechanization of previously labor-intensive jobs.
"Physical activity is now needed to compensate for diet and technology," said
Befort. "That requires cultural change because rural areas typically don't have a
culture of physical activity as leisure time."
Befort examined several factors which are thought to affect obesity, including diet,
physical activity, age, race, gender, and education. The researchers discovered that even
when other contributing factors are held constant, rural residents were more likely to be
obese.
"Living in a rural area isn't always recognized as a category for obesity-related
health disparities but, according to our study, it should be," said Befort.
"We simply cannot ignore the link between obesity and poverty, and the
disproportionate impact this is having on rural America," said Alan Morgan, the
National Rural Health Association's CEO. "If we truly want to decrease health
care costs and improve the nation's health status, we are going to have to start
viewing obesity as a top-tier public health concern for rural Americans."