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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Obesity and weight control

Wisconsin Health Atlas: Obesity
Reports on Wisconsin obesity trends from 2015 to 2016. Includes analysis by age and rurality and provides ZIP code level data for adult and childhood obesity rates.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 2018
Sponsoring organization: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
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Beverage Consumption Patterns among Overweight and Obese African American Women
Examines beverage consumption patterns, including the number of beverages and type, contributing to the overall energy intake and weight status among overweight and obese African American women in the rural South. Includes statistics on beverage consumption by age, education, and rural versus urban residence.
Author(s): Terryl J. Hartman, Regine Haardörfer, Brenda M. Greene, Shruti Parulekar, Michelle C. Kegler
Citation: Nutrients, 9(12), 1344
Date: 12/2017
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Contextualizing Obesity and Diabetes Policy: Exploring a Nested Statistical and Constructivist Approach at the Cross-National and Subnational Government Level in the United States and Brazil
Compares state and rural municipal governments in Mississippi and Brazil in their use of infrastructural resources to facilitate adoption of obesity and diabetes policy.
Author(s): Eduardo J. Gomez
Citation: International Journal of Health Policy Management, 6(11), 639-648.
Date: 11/2017
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Store Owners as Potential Agents of Change: Energy Drinks in the Interior of Alaska
Discusses how store workers can act as health advocates by limiting or promoting specific products to improve the health status of their rural Alaskan community members.
Author(s): Janet M. Wojcicki, Peter de Schweinitz
Citation: International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 76(1)
Date: 11/2017
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Catalyzing Medicaid-Public Health Collaboration to Reduce Childhood Obesity
Explains cross-sector interventions tested by 5 states - Arizona, Maryland, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Texas - participating in the Center for Health Care Strategies' Innovations in Childhood Obesity Initiative. Each state profile highlights how Medicaid and public health agencies are using innovative approaches to address childhood obesity in their high-risk communities. The Texas initiative focuses on childhood obesity in the rural, low-income population along the U.S./Mexico border.
Author(s): Alexandra Maul, Stephen A. Somers
Date: 11/2017
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities Among Rural Adults — United States, 2012-2015
Reports on racial/ethnic health disparities among rural residents. Includes data by race/ethnicity for health-related quality of life, healthcare access and use, chronic health conditions, and health-related behaviors. Based on data from the 2012–2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
Author(s): Cara V. James, Ramal Moonesinghe, Shondelle M. Wilson-Frederick, et al.
Citation: MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 66(23), 1-9
Date: 11/2017
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Life Course Patterns of Concurrent Trajectories of BMI and Affective Symptoms of Rural Mothers: Socioeconomic Antecedents and Disease Outcomes in Later Life
Study examining patterns of body mass index (BMI), socioeconomic background, and symptoms of depression and anxiety in rural Midwestern mothers over a 25-year period from 1991-2015. Participants in the study were 552 White families in rural Iowa who were parents of early adolescents in 1991. Discusses health risks, comorbidity, and socioeconomic stresses over time, noting that the rural women in the study experienced the rural farm crisis of the late 1980s.
Author(s): Kandauda Wickrama, Eric T. Klopack, Catherine Walker O'Neal, et al.
Citation: The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 74(7), 1233-1244
Date: 10/2017
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Direct Effects of the Home, School, and Consumer Food Environments on the Association Between Food Purchasing Patterns and Dietary Intake among Rural Adolescents in Kentucky and North Carolina, 2017
Analyzes the effects of food shopping habits and food environments in the home, school, and consumer settings on dietary intake among rural adolescents living in Kentucky and North Carolina. Discusses habit and environment as potential influences on rural-urban adolescent obesity disparities.
Author(s): Alison Gustafson, Stephanie Jilcott Pitts, Jordan McDonald, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(10), 1255
Date: 10/2017
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Variations in Obesity Rates between US Counties: Impacts of Activity Access, Food Environments, and Settlement Patterns
Describes differences in obesity rates among U.S. counties based on rurality, region, poverty level, and ethnicity. Analyzes access to physical activity facilities, food environments, and settlement patterns, defined as residential density and car dependence, to determine potential explanations for geographic variations.
Author(s): Peter Congdon
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(9), 1023
Date: 09/2017
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Longitudinal Analysis of Nut-Inclusive Diets and Body Mass Index Among Overweight and Obese African American Women Living in Rural Alabama and Mississippi, 2011-2013
Results of a weight loss intervention among 383 overweight women in 8 rural Alabama and Mississippi counties, evaluating the association between intake of nuts and other select food groups with participants' body mass index (BMI) over a 24-month period. Features data on participants' income, education, rates of consumption of various foods, and more.
Author(s): Samara R. Sterling, Brenda Bertrand, Suzanne Judd, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 14, 160595
Date: 09/2017
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