Obesity Prevalence Among Adults Living in Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Counties - United States, 2016.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional observational surveillance study (BRFSS)
PubMed 29902166 · doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6723a1
What was done
The CDC analyzed state-level data from the 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to evaluate adult obesity prevalence (body mass index ≥30 kg/m²) across metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties in the United States, broken down by Census regions and individual states.
What was found
Adult obesity prevalence was significantly higher in nonmetropolitan counties (34.2%) than in metropolitan counties (28.7%, p < 0.001). Nonmetropolitan prevalence was significantly higher across all US Census regions, with the largest absolute gaps in the South (5.6 percentage points) and Northeast (5.4 percentage points). Across 47 states analyzed, nonmetropolitan obesity prevalence was significantly higher in 24 states, while only Wyoming showed higher prevalence in metropolitan counties.
Why it matters
This study provides state- and regional-level resolution demonstrating that obesity is consistently more prevalent among rural and nonmetropolitan US adults. These findings identify key geographic disparities to inform targeted policy and community-level interventions.
Limits
The abstract does not report the total participant sample size, provides data for only 47 states, uses a cross-sectional design that cannot determine causation, and does not control for individual-level socioeconomic or behavioral confounders.
Cited by
- supports According to CDC data, obesity rates are approximately 32% in rural America and approximately 27% in urban America.