Men and women in rural areas are piling on the pounds in contrast to those living in cities, a study into body mass index said yesterday.
Researchers from Imperial College London have found global rates of obesity are lower in urban areas because of access to healthier foods and exercise facilities.
Study author Professor Majid Ezzati of Imperial’s School of Public Health said: “The results of this massive global study overturn commonly held perceptions that more people living in cities is the main cause of the global rise in obesity.
“This means we need to rethink how we tackle this global health problem.
“Discussions around public health tend to focus more on the negative aspects of living in cities.
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“In fact, cities provide a wealth of opportunities for better nutrition, more physical exercise and recreation, and overall improved health.
“These things are often harder to find in rural areas.”
The study published yesterday in the journal Nature looked at height and weight data from around 112 million adults across urban and rural areas of 200 countries between 1985 and 2017.
They found people across the world are getting heavier, with average weight rising by 11lbs to 13lbs over the period of the study – and the majority of the rise is down to the increases recorded in rural areas.
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BMI indicates whether someone is a healthy weight by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by their height in metres squared.
A BMI of between 19 and 25 is considered healthy.
For rural men, the biggest margins of rural over urban BMI were in Ireland, Czech Republic, Sweden, Australia, Austria and the US.
The team found that since 1985, average BMI in rural areas has increased by 2.1 in both women and men.
But in cities, the increase was 1.3 and 1.6 in women and men respectively.
