Obesity among working age adults: the role of county-level persistent poverty in rural disparities.

Little research has investigated the relationship between county-level poverty and obesity rates. We examined the factors related to obesity among residents of Rural Persistent Poverty counties, finding that these counties had a larger proportion of obese residents (34.5%) than Other Rural (28.4%) or Urban counties (24.9%). In adjusted analysis, the statistically significant association between persistent poverty and obesity was attenuated. Both individual characteristics (race, age) and county-level food availability and access factors were found to be significantly related to obesity. Improved access to quality food may be beneficial to residents of impoverished areas.