Obesity Prevalence Among Adults Living in Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Counties - United States, 2016

Abstract

Approximately 46 million persons (14%) in the United States live in nonmetropolitan counties.* Compared with metropolitan residents, nonmetropolitan residents have a higher prevalence of obesity-associated chronic diseases such as diabetes (1), coronary heart disease (1), and arthritis (2). The 2005-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) found a significantly higher obesity prevalence among adults in nonmetropolitan (39.6%) than in metropolitan (33.4%) counties (3). However, this difference has not been examined by state. Therefore, CDC examined state-level 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data and found that the prevalence of obesity (body mass index [BMI] ≥30 kg/m²) was 34.2% among U.S. adults living in nonmetropolitan counties and 28.7% among those living in metropolitan counties (p<0.001). Obesity prevalence was significantly higher among nonmetropolitan county residents than among metropolitan county residents in all U.S. Census regions, with the largest absolute difference in the South (5.6 percentage points) and Northeast (5.4 percentage points). In 24 of 47 states, obesity prevalence was significantly higher among persons in nonmetropolitan counties than among those in metropolitan counties; only in Wyoming was obesity prevalence higher among metropolitan county residents than among nonmetropolitan county residents. Both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties can address obesity through a variety of policy and environmental strategies to increase access to healthier foods and opportunities for physical activity (4).