Chartbook: Obesity in Urban and Rural Children

Funder:	Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Research center:	South Carolina Rural Health Research Center Phone: 803.251.6317
Lead researcher:	Jihong Liu, ScD , 803.251.6317, jliu@gwm.sc.edu
Project funded:	September 2006
Project completed:	April 2007
Topics:	Children Obesity Rural statistics and demographics

The as yet unabated epidemic of childhood obesity throughout the United States has led policymakers to rank it as a critical public health threat for the 21st century (Institute of Medicine Committee on Prevention of Obesity in Children and Youth, 2005; Koplan & Dietz, 1999; US Department of Health and Human Services, 2001). Using data from the 2003 National Survey of Children’s Health, the objectives of this comprehensive study were to:

• Describe the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity at the national and state levels.
• Present the variations in childhood overweight and obesity by urban/rural residence, socioeconomic indicators (measured by family poverty status and parental education), and race/ethnicity characteristics.
• Document the presence of modifiable risk factors for childhood obesity by urban/rural residence, socioeconomic indicators, and race/ethnicity at both the national and state levels.

Publications

• Overweight and Physical Inactivity among Rural Children Aged 10-17: A National and State Portrait
  Author(s): Jihong Liu, Kevin J. Bennett, Nusrat Harun, Xia Zheng, Janice C. Probst, Russell R. Pate
  Date: 05 / 2007
  Recent studies have found that the tide of child obesity is rising faster in rural communities in several states, including Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Michigan, West Virginia, and North Carolina. This report examines the presence of overweight and obesity among children in both rural and urban settings using the data from a recent national survey, the 2003 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). In 2003, 30.6% of children aged 10-17 years old were overweight, 14.8% of which were obese. Rural children (16.5%) were more likely to be obese than urban children (14.4%). Executive summary available online.
• Overweight and Physical Inactivity among Rural Children Aged 10-17: A National and State Portrait (Fact Sheet)
  Date: 2007
  Brief overview obesity and overweight, physical activity, and weight-related behaviors among rural and urban children.