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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Obesity and weight control

Inequities in Physical Activity Environments and Leisure-Time Physical Activity in Rural Communities
Examines access to physical activity (PA) environments in 3 rural counties in Georgia. Analyzes 2019 survey data from 728 participants in relation to leisure-time PA, walking and biking for transport, and perceived PA environments with data broken down by race, household income, and neighborhood rurality.
Author(s): Michelle C. Kegler, Nicole Gauthreaux, April Hermstad, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 19
Date: 07/2022
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Obesity Treatment Initiation, Retention, and Outcomes in the Veterans Affairs MOVE! Program among Rural and Urban Veterans
Compares rural, highly rural, and urban veterans' likelihood of initiating participation in the Veterans Affairs weight management program (VA MOVE!) or of receiving anti-obesity medication or bariatric surgery. Utilizes 2015-2017 Veterans Affairs patient data. Includes data on treatment retention and weight loss.
Author(s): Kathleen M. Robinson, Mark Vander Weg, Helena H. Laroche, et al.
Citation: Obesity Science & Practice, 8(6), 784-793
Date: 06/2022
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Rural Health in Connecticut A Comprehensive Review of Social Determinants, Community Resources, Health Outcomes, and Wellbeing
Documents the nature of public health for Connecticut's rural populations with a focus on trends, to understand how these populations are changing. Features chapters on social determinants of health, healthcare systems, health risks and behaviors, and health outcomes.
Author(s): Kelly Davila, Camille Seaberry
Date: 06/2022
Sponsoring organization: DataHaven
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Individual and Neighborhood Influences on the Relationship Between Waist Circumference and Coronary Heart Disease in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Study
Explores a study correlating the waist circumference with incidence of coronary heart disease and discusses the influence of geography and socioeconomic factors, such as race, poverty, and rurality, among others. Breaks down data by individual and ecological characteristics.
Author(s): Anne H. Gaglioti, Desiree Rivers, Joanna Bryan Ringel, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 19
Date: 04/2022
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Associations Between Obesity, Physical Inactivity, Healthcare Capacity, and the Built Environment: Geographic Information System Analysis
Explores the impacts healthcare capacity and the built environment have on obesity and physical inactivity. Identifies variations in rural versus urban areas relating to access to healthcare facilities and opportunities to exercise, based on demographic data obtained from a variety of secondary sources and then mapped to geographic locations with GIS. Includes county-level maps representing the study findings in South Carolina.
Author(s): Duaa Aljabri
Citation: Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 15, 689-704
Date: 04/2022
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Environmental Data and Methods from the Accumulating Data to Optimally Predict Obesity Treatment (Adopt) Core Measures Environmental Working Group
Describes available datasets on walkability, neighborhood deprivation, urbanicity, personal safety, and food environment in relationship to weight loss interventions. Utilizes both rural-urban commuting areas (RUCA) codes and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) urban/rural locale definitions to disaggregate the data.
Additional links: Data Files
Author(s): Beth A. Slotman, David G. Stinchcomb, Tiffany M. Powell-Wiley, et al.
Citation: Data in Brief, 41
Date: 04/2022
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The Impact of COVID-19 on Rural Treatment-Seeking Families with Children with Overweight or Obesity
Presents results of a May 2020 survey on parental stress, personal well-being, and family health behaviors during the early COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizes data from 77 rural Kansas parents whose children were participants in a 2nd to 4th grade pediatric obesity intervention.
Author(s): Bethany Forseth, Kelsey M. Dean, Megan Murray, et al.
Citation: Children's Health Care, 51(3), 300-315
Date: 03/2022
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Black/White Disparities in Obesity Widen with Increasing Rurality: Evidence from a National Survey
Analyzes Black/White disparities in obesity, diabetes, and lack of physical activity, with breakdowns by county-level rurality quintile. Utilizes data from the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
Author(s): Steven A. Cohen, Caitlin C. Nash, Erin N. Byrne, Lauren E. Mitchell, Mary L. Greaney
Citation: Health Equity, 6(1), 178-188
Date: 03/2022
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The Impact of a Grocery Store Closure in One Rural Highly Obese Appalachian Community on Shopping Behavior and Dietary Intake
Results of telephone surveys of people in Martin County, Kentucky, a highly obese community in which healthy food accessibility is scarce and which experienced the closure of a local grocery store in January 2020. Includes demographics for the participants, and compares their food shopping habits at the time of the initial contact with those at the time of a follow-up survey a year later.
Author(s): Rachel Gillespie, Emily DeWitt, Stacey Slone, Kathryn Cardarelli, Alison Gustafson
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(6), 3506
Date: 03/2022
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Weight Outcomes of NU-HOME: A Randomized Controlled Trial to Prevent Obesity among Rural Children
Reports on impacts of the NU-HOME collaborative for prevention of childhood obesity in rural children, based on data from 114 parent-child pairs in Minnesota. Explores demographic characteristics, food insecurity, and quality of meals of the participants, among other data points. Discusses the effect of family-level interventions on overweight/obesity status, body mass index (BMI), and percent body fat.
Author(s): Jayne A. Fulkerson, Melissa Horning, Daheia J. Barr-Anderson, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 19, 29
Date: 03/2022
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