In a shift, rural areas globally contribute more to high rates of obesity

Rural areas — and not cities, as in the past — are the major contributor to the global rise in BMI and the related obesity epidemic, according to a new study. Looking at data from more than 112 million adults across 200 countries, researchers found that some 55% of the global BMI increase in 2017 was because of higher values in rural areas, even though more people now live in urban areas. During this time, BMI of rural men and women increased by roughly twice the BMI of urban dwellers, on average. This trend, the authors write, is reflective of other trends that tie into higher rates of obesity, including lower education and income, higher price of healthy foods, and less access to and use of public transit.