Rural Populations

The goal of Healthy People 2010's nutrition and overweight focus area is to promote health and reduce chronic disease associated with diet and weight. The problem of obesity and overweight is described as a new epidemic according to the Surgeon General's recent Call to Action. In the last 20 years, the number of American children and adults who are overweight or obese has doubled. Sixty-one percent of American adults are overweight or obese, and 13 percent of children and adolescents are overweight. Traditionally, rural areas have experienced a lower incidence of overweight and obesity due to the increased physical demands characteristic of an agrarian lifestyle. However, this is no longer the case, and rural residents experience an increased prevalence of obesity and overweight compared to their urban counterparts.

A product of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Rural Initiative, the Rural Assistance Center (RAC) was established in December 2002 as a rural health and human services information portal. RAC helps rural communities and other rural stakeholders access the full range of available programs, funding, and research that can enable them to provide quality health and human services to rural residents.

This service can be used to help determine whether a specific location is considered rural based on various definitions of rural, including definitions that are used as eligibility criteria for federal programs. The information provided by this service addresses only the rural aspect of a program's requirements. Your Am I Rural? report is not a guarantee of your eligibility status. Please check with the program contacts directly to verify your eligibility for specific federal programs.

This federal government website lists outdoor recreation opportunities in all 50 states.

The American Planning Association brings together thousands of people

The mission of the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center is to develop, promote, and implement sound economic strategies to improve the quality of life of rural North Carolinians. The center serves the state's 85 rural counties, with a special focus on individuals with low to moderate incomes and communities with limited resources. Created in 1987, the Rural Center operates a multi-faceted program that includes conducting research into rural issues; advocating for policy and program innovations; and building the productive capacity of rural leaders, entrepreneurs and community organizations.

The Cooperative Extension System is a nationwide, non-credit educational network. Each U.S. state and territory has a state office at its land-grant university and a network of local or regional offices. These offices are staffed by one or more experts who provide useful, practical, and research-based information to agricultural producers, small business owners, youth, consumers, and others in rural areas and communities of all sizes. This website also provides an interactive map of the United States that will help link you to your nearest Cooperative Extension office.