Jihong Liu, ScD

South Carolina Rural Health Research Center

Phone: 803.251.6317
E-mail: jliu@gwm.sc.edu

Completed Projects

Chartbook: Obesity in Urban and Rural Children, Lead researcher
Research center: South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Children, Obesity, Rural statistics and demographics
By providing a descriptive analysis of the disparities of childhood obesity by residence, socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity, the study will offer important information about the needs of children and adolescents living in rural areas and from families of low socioeconomic status.

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
  Research center: South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Children, Obesity
  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.