Study Finds that Buffet Eating and Lack of Exercise Equals Obesity in Rural America

People who live in small towns in the Midwestern United States who eat out often at buffets and cafeterias, and who think their community is an unpleasant place to exercise are more like to be obese, according to a study by Washington University in St. Louis. The findings of the study are published in the December issue of Preventive Medicine.

The findings are not surprising. People who do not exercise and who overeat tend to be heavier. Temptation to overeat abounds at buffets and cafeterias, where it is easy to make dietary mistakes. Many of the foods on the buffet table are high in fat and sodium. People who live in areas where they do not have access to safe places to get outdoors and exercise are less likely to get enough exercise to burn calories and fat.

Adults in rural areas are more likely to be obese and are less active in their leisure time than people who live in urban and suburban U.S.. according the the authors of this research study.

Thirty percent of adults in the U.S. are obese, which increases their risk for health conditions including hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Health hazards related to obesity make the study of eight loss important.

The study includes 1,258 adults selected at random in 12 rural communities in Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee. Study subjects completed telephone surveys about food choices and physical activity. All study subjects lived within to miles of a community walking trail.

Questions were asked about their access to produce and low-fat foods, how often they went shopping, where they ate out in restaurants and how they perceived their community for physical activity.

Obese people in the study tended to have less education and lower annual incomes than people of normal weight. The obese subjects were also more likely to consider their community and an unpleasant area for physical activity. Areas that ere considered less pleasant lacked sidewalks and there were less places to be active and exercise.

"Although obesity rates are higher in rural areas, this is one of the first studies to look at food choices and exercise in this population," says Alicia Casey, first author of the paper and now a doctoral student in health communications at Penn State University. "Determining how much these factors increase the risk of obesity in rural areas can help us determine methods to help this group."

Rural adults have higher levels of obesity and are less active in their leisure time than urban and suburban U.S. adults, say Brownson, a faculty scholar of Washington University's Institute for Public Health and a professor at the School of Medicine. Obesity in rural areas can help us determine methods to help this group."

Brownson pointed out that exercise could be encouraged by making travel more attractive in rural communities. Possible ways to encourage exercise include making safe areas along the roadways for people who want to walk. Suggestions include widening the shoulders of the roads, safety signs for pedestrians, sings to identify bicycling area and reducing traffic speed limits.

Exercise could be made more enticing by creating safe places to walk fun and bicycle. Encourage adults to be active and get regular exercise could help they to get their weight under control.

Communities could encourage availability and affordability of healthy foods by working with food outlet owner, changing the state and federal taxations to make healthier foods available in grocery stores.

This study are the third part of Walk the Ozarks to Wellness, a larger intervention research program that promotes walking among overweight rural adults. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.

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