Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Jan 3:16:E01.
doi: 10.5888/pcd16.180200.

Rural-Urban Differences in Baseline Dietary Intake and Physical Activity Levels of Adolescents

Affiliations

Rural-Urban Differences in Baseline Dietary Intake and Physical Activity Levels of Adolescents

Renee Euler et al. Prev Chronic Dis. .

Abstract

Introduction: Differences in dietary intake and physical activity may explain the higher prevalence of obesity among adolescents living in rural versus urban settings. The objective of this cross-sectional secondary analysis was to compare baseline dietary intake and physical activity of adolescents by rurality.

Methods: We analyzed data on 940 adolescents who participated in ACTION PAC (Adolescents Committed to Improvement of Nutrition and Physical Activity), an obesity prevention and management intervention trial conducted from 2014 through 2017 in 8 public high schools in the southwestern United States. Dietary intake was assessed with the Block Food Screener, and participants completed an exercise log and wore an accelerometer to provide data on physical activity. We compared data by rural-urban commuting area (RUCA) codes and log population density by using multilevel models, with students nested within zip code and repeated measures for accelerometer analysis.

Results: After adjusting for socioeconomic status and ethnicity, accelerometer data indicated that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was 8.17 min/d (P = .02) higher and sedentary time was 20.42 min/d (P = .02) lower in moderately urban areas than in the urban reference area. Each 1-unit increase in log population density was associated with higher reported intake of whole grains (0.02 ounce equivalents, P = .03), potatoes (0.01 cup equivalents, P = .02), and added sugar (0.37 tsp, P = .02) after adjusting for socioeconomic status and ethnicity.

Conclusion: Differences in reported dietary intake and physical activity level by measures of rurality were small and inconsistent in direction to explain the disparities observed in rural versus urban areas.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Lawman HG, Fryar CD, Kruszon-Moran D, Kit BK, et al. Trends in obesity prevalence among children and adolescents in the United States, 1988–1994 through 2013–2014. JAMA 2016;315(21):2292–9. 10.1001/jama.2016.6361 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Flegal KM. Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States, 2011–2012. JAMA 2014;311(8):806–14. 10.1001/jama.2014.732 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Childhood obesity facts: prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States 2011–2014. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html. Accessed June 22, 2017.
    1. Obesity and overweight fact sheet. World Health Organization; 2018. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/. Accessed March 23, 2018.
    1. Davis AM, Bennett KJ, Befort C, Nollen N. Obesity and related health behaviors among urban and rural children in the United States: data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003–2004 and 2005–2006. J Pediatr Psychol 2011;36(6):669–76. 10.1093/jpepsy/jsq117 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types