Obesity is increasing more rapidly in the world’s rural areas than in cities, according to a study of global trends in body-mass index (BMI).
The study, published in the journal Nature, analysed the height andweight data of over 112 million adults across urban and rural areas of 200countries and territories between 1985 and 2017.
Height and weight can be used to calculate BMI, an internationallyrecognised scale which tells us whether an individual has a healthy weight fortheir height, said researchers led by Imperial College London in the UK.
The study found that from 1985 to 2017, BMI rose by an average of twokilogrammes per square metre (kg/m2) in women and 2.2 kg/m2 in men globally,equivalent to each person becoming five to six kg heavier.
Over half of the global rise over these 33 years was due to increases inBMI in rural areas.
In some low- and middle-income countries, rural areas were responsiblefor over 80 per cent of the increase.
The team found that since 1985, average BMI in rural areas has increasedby 2.1 kg/m2 in both women and men.
However, in cities, the increase was 1.3 kg/m2 and 1.6 kg/m2 in women andmen respectively.
These trends have led to striking changes in the geography of BMI overthe three decades, researchers said.
In 1985, urban men and women in over three quarters of the countries hada higher BMI than their rural counterparts, they said.
Over time, the gap between urban and rural BMI in many of these countriesshrank or even reversed.
“The results of this massive global study overturn commonly heldperceptions that more people living in cities is the main cause of the globalrise in obesity,” said Professor Majid Ezzati of Imperial’s School ofPublic Health.
“This means that we need to rethink how we tackle this global healthproblem,” Ezzati said.
The team found important differences between high-, middle-, andlow-income countries.
In high-income countries, the study showed that BMI has been generallyhigher in rural areas since 1985, especially for women.
The researchers suggest this is due to the disadvantages experienced bythose living outside cities: lower income and education, limited availabilityand higher price of healthy foods, and fewer leisure and sports facilities.
“Discussions around public health tend to focus more on the negativeaspects of living in cities,” said Ezzati.
“In fact, cities provide a wealth of opportunities for betternutrition, more physical exercise and recreation, and overall improved health.These things are often harder to find in rural areas,” he said.
Rural areas in low- and middle-income countries have seen shifts towardshigher incomes, better infrastructure, more mechanised agriculture andincreased car use.
These factors not only bring numerous health benefits, but also lead tolower energy expenditure and to more spending on food, which can be processedand low-quality when sufficient regulations are not in place.
All these factors contribute to faster increase in BMI in rural areas,researchers said.
“As countries increase in wealth, the challenge for ruralpopulations changes from affording enough to eat, to affording good qualityfood,” said Ezzati.
The main exception to the global trend was sub-Saharan Africa where womengained weight more rapidly in cities.
This was possibly because of more low-energy work, such as office work,less need for physical domestic tasks such as collecting firewood and fetchingwater, shorter commutes and greater access to processed foods, researcherssaid.