Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Obesity and weight control

Rural Healthy People 2020: A Companion Document to Healthy People 2020, Volume 1
Provides a rural focus for the Healthy People 2020 priorities. Includes overviews of the top 10 rural health priority areas identified by rural stakeholders. (Volume 2 discusses priorities 11-20.) Topics addressed include: health insurance, primary care, emergency services, nutrition and weight status, diabetes, mental health, substance abuse, heart disease and stroke, physical activity, older adults, maternal and child health, and tobacco use. Each overview includes reviews of the relevant literature and models that rural communities can use to address the issues. Document is available for free download, after providing brief information about intended use.
Author(s): Jane N. Bolin, Gail Bellamy, Alva O. Ferdinand, Bita Kash, Janet W. Helduser
Date: 2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
view details
Relationship Between Social Support and Body Mass Index Among Overweight and Obese African American Women in the Rural Deep South, 2011–2013
Reports results from a study undertaken in rural communities of the Alabama Black Belt and the Mississippi Delta. Examines encouragement and discouragement provided to overweight and obese African American women by family and friends related to healthy eating and exercise.
Author(s): Erica R. Johnson, Tiffany L. Carson, Olivia Affuso, Claudia M. Hardy, Monica L. Baskin
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 11
Date: 12/2014
Type: Document
view details
Assessment of Mobile Device and SMS Use for Diet and Exercise Information among Rural Mexican-American Adolescents
Study examining how rural Mexican-American youth use the Internet or short message service (SMS) on mobile devices to access health related information to learn about diet and exercise. Evaluates the use of mobile devices for diet and exercise knowledge and its utility in planning interventions to address obesity among the study population.
Author(s): Jennifer L. Collins, Jane Dimmitt Champion
Citation: Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 29(6), 493-502
Date: 11/2014
Type: Document
view details
Disparities in Obesity Among Rural and Urban Residents in a Health Disparate Region
Reports on a community-based study to measure and compare the current levels of obesity and associated lifestyle behaviors of physical activity and diets of fruits and vegetables among rural and urban residents in south central Virginia and north central North Carolina.
Author(s): Jennie L Hill, Wen You, Jamie M Zoellner
Citation: BMC Public Health, 2014(14), 1051
Date: 10/2014
Type: Document
view details
Rural-Urban Disparities in Heart Disease
Policy brief reporting on rural disparities in heart disease and the associated risk factors of obesity and physical inactivity. Includes heart disease-related death rates and information on obesity prevalence by sex, region, and rural/urban status from 2008-2010. Based on data from the 2014 Update of the Rural-Urban Chartbook.
Author(s): Alana Knudson, Michael Meit, Shena Popat
Date: 10/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
view details
Rural Childhood Obesity Prevention Toolkit
Provides specific policy options for healthy eating and active living for rural communities to implement to address childhood obesity.
Author(s): Maya Rockeymoore, Craig Moscetti, Andrew Fountain
Date: 10/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
view details
Home Food and Activity Assessment: Development and Validation of an Instrument for Diverse Families of Young Children
Outlines and tests an assessment tool that measures the home food and activity environments of geographically and economically diverse families of preschool aged children in rural Colorado.
Author(s): Richard E. Boles, Alexandra Burdell, Susan L. Johnson, et al.
Citation: Appetite, 80, 23-27
Date: 09/2014
Type: Document
view details
Reach for More: Healthier Beverage Vending for Government Agencies in Rural Settings
Provides an overview of obesity rates in rural California counties and discusses how ensuring access to affordable, healthy beverages is an obesity prevention strategy. Discusses the steps and relationships to help establish policies to decrease sugary beverages sold in vending machines in public places.
Author(s): Quang "Q" Dang, Karla Hampton
Date: 08/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: ChangeLab Solutions
view details
Perceived Reactions of Elementary School Students to Changes in School Lunches after Implementation of the United States Department of Agriculture's New Meals Standards: Minimal Backlash, but Rural and Socioeconomic Disparities Exist
Examines the perceptions from school staff regarding student reaction to changes in the school lunch menus, implemented in 2012 according to revised standards required by the USDA's National School Lunch Program. Includes rural versus urban location and socioeconomic data of students.
Author(s): Lindsey Turner, Frank J. Chaloupka
Citation: Childhood Obesity, 10(4), 349-356
Date: 08/2014
Type: Document
view details
Gender and Age Are Associated with Healthy Food Purchases via Grocery Voucher Redemption
Explores the association of age, gender, education, and income level with purchasing healthy foods using a grocery voucher in rural Appalachian Kentucky, an area considered a food desert with higher rates of chronic disease. Includes data on the purchase of a designated voucher food item by age, sex, education, and income.
Author(s): Frances Hardin-Fanning, Yevgeniya Gokun
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 14(3), 2830
Date: 07/2014
Type: Document
view details