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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Food security and nutrition

Low Health Literacy Is Associated With Energy-Balance-Related Behaviors, Quality of Life, and BMI Among Rural Appalachian Middle School Students: A Cross-Sectional Study
Results of a study of 854 7th-grade students in rural Appalachian Virginia, exploring relationships between health literacy and energy-balance-related health behaviors, body mass index (BMI), and quality of life. Features demographics and statistics on health-promoting and risky health behaviors, and self-rated health status.
Author(s): Annie L. Reid, Kathleen J. Porter, Wen You, et al.
Citation: Journal of School Health, 91(8), 608-616
Date: 08/2021
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Caregiver Feeding Practices as Predictors for Child Dietary Intake in Low-Income, Appalachian Communities
Results of a study of feeding practices of 178 caregivers of children ages 2-10 from low-income, rural communities in East Tennessee, conducted from November 2017 to June 2018. Features demographics and statistics on caregiver and child dietary intake.
Author(s): Mikaela B. McIver, Sarah Colby, Melissa Hansen-Petrik, Elizabeth T. Anderson Steeves
Citation: Nutrients, 13(8), 2773.
Date: 08/2021
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Examining Child Food Insecurity in Rural America
Discusses challenges and barriers related to child food security in rural areas, with a focus on the impact of COVID-19, data exhibiting child food needs, and policy that can help close food access gaps.
Date: 07/2021
Sponsoring organization: No Kid Hungry
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Community-Based Efforts Aim to Improve the Food Environment within a Highly Obese Rural Appalachian County
Discusses efforts to improve nutrition of rural Appalachian citizens through community-developed marketing strategies. Examines statistical differences in food purchases at 5 Kentucky gas stations before and after healthier options were noted on station shelves via a "Smart Snack" logo.
Author(s): Rachel Gillespie, Emily DeWitt, Heather Norman-Burgdolf, Brynnan Dunnaway, Alison Gustafson
Citation: Nutrients, 13(7), 2200
Date: 06/2021
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Super Stores' Impact on the Availability of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Approved Stores
Examines the effect of new super stores on the survival of existing traditional stores and the cost savings accruing to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) beneficiaries. Features statistics including SNAP redemptions and share of redemptions by store type from 1992–2017, and impact of super store entry on the number of SNAP-approved stores with breakdowns by urban and rural areas.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Michael Ollinger, Michele Ver Ploeg, Chris Dicken
Date: 06/2021
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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The Food Retail Landscape Across Rural America
Examines changing food retailer trends from 1990 to 2015 in rural areas, discussing food access issues, economic challenges, and health impacts. Provides county-level maps indicating numbers of food retailers and grocery stores, and compares store types and numbers of food retailers for rural, nonmetro large urban, and nonmetro small urban counties.
Author(s): Alexander Stevens, Clare Cho, Metin Cakir, Xiangwen Kong, Michael Boland
Date: 06/2021
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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The Influence of Rurality on Fruit and Vegetable Intake and BMI: Findings in Mississippi Are Not Consistent with Those at the National Level
Utilizes data from the 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to look at fruit and vegetable (FV) intake and BMI in a nationwide sample of over 450,000 people and compares those results with participants within Mississippi. Examines FV intake across four geographic categories: in the center city of metropolitan statistical area (MSA), outside center city of MSA but within its county, inside suburban county of MSA, and not in MSA. Includes graphs of FV intake related to geographic category and discussion of FV intake within rural areas specifically.
Author(s): Danielle Fastring, Danielle Nadorff, Hilary DeShong
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(9), 5021
Date: 05/2021
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Hunger, Poverty, and Health During COVID-19: Spotlight: Rural Communities
Research brief exploring the impact of the pandemic on rural communities, focusing on hunger, poverty, and health. Includes statistics on weekly deaths from March-November 2020 per 100,000 people ages 20 and over, with breakdowns by 5 levels of population density.
Date: 05/2021
Sponsoring organization: Food Research & Action Center
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Three Datasets for Nutrition Environment Measures of Food Outlets Located in the Lower Mississippi Delta Region of the United States
Data note providing details of a database containing information on 266 grocery stores, convenience stores, and restaurants located in rural Mississippi towns in the Lower Mississippi Delta region, whose nutrition environments were measured from 2016-2018. Describes the three datasets for the benefit of external researchers.
Author(s): Jessica L. Thomson, Alicia S. Landry
Citation: F1000 Research, 9, 1307
Date: 05/2021
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Food Insecurity Among Working-Age Veterans
Examines rates of food insecurity among working-age veterans from 2015-2019, comparing nonmetro, metro, and suburban veterans. Provides data on characteristics of working-age veterans, household information, period of service, metro/nonmetro residence, and other data.
Author(s): Matthew P. Rabbitt, Michael D. Smith
Date: 05/2021
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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