Americans living in rural areas are more likely to be obese than city dwellers, according to a study, indicating that residential location may play an important role in the national obesity epidemic.
Researchers with the University of Kansas analyzed data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics. They said the study 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, they noted.
With a study pool of more than 8,800 Americans, the researchers found rural residents were almost 20% more likely to be obese than were urban residents. The overall obesity rates were 39% for rural residents and 33% for urban residents.
Christie Befort, PhD, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor of preventive medicine and public health at the University of Kansas Medical Center, cited two possible 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," Befort said. The researchers also examined demographic and lifestyle factors and found that rural Americans typically consume a diet higher in fat.
Rural residents also face challenges related to healthcare access, 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," Befort said. "It’s tough to get to a gym if you live outside of a town without one."
The researchers found the rural-urban obesity disparity existed in younger Americans, ages 20 to 39, but not in older age groups. Befort said this finding can be partially attributed to increased mechanization of previously labor-intensive jobs.
"Physical activity is now needed to compensate for diet and technology," Befort said. "That requires cultural change because rural areas typically don’t have a culture of physical activity as leisure time."
Rural residents were more likely to be obese even when controlling for other contributing factors, such as diet, physical activity, age, race, gender and education, the researchers said. "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," Befort said.
The study appears in the Fall 2012 issue of the Journal of Rural Health, a publication of the National Rural Health Association.
Researchers with the University of Kansas analyzed data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics. They said the study 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, they noted.
With a study pool of more than 8,800 Americans, the researchers found rural residents were almost 20% more likely to be obese than were urban residents. The overall obesity rates were 39% for rural residents and 33% for urban residents.
Christie Befort, PhD, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor of preventive medicine and public health at the University of Kansas Medical Center, cited two possible 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," Befort said. The researchers also examined demographic and lifestyle factors and found that rural Americans typically consume a diet higher in fat.
Rural residents also face challenges related to healthcare access, 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," Befort said. "It’s tough to get to a gym if you live outside of a town without one."
The researchers found the rural-urban obesity disparity existed in younger Americans, ages 20 to 39, but not in older age groups. Befort said this finding can be partially attributed to increased mechanization of previously labor-intensive jobs.
"Physical activity is now needed to compensate for diet and technology," Befort said. "That requires cultural change because rural areas typically don’t have a culture of physical activity as leisure time."
Rural residents were more likely to be obese even when controlling for other contributing factors, such as diet, physical activity, age, race, gender and education, the researchers said. "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," Befort said.
The study appears in the Fall 2012 issue of the Journal of Rural Health, a publication of the National Rural Health Association.
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