The figures on the differences between rural and urban are included in a large international compilation with over 2,000 partial studies in 190 countries. Parts of the Swedish material come from the population study Monica, which is a long-term study with 12,000 participants in Norrbotten and Västerbotten.
Stefan Söderberg is a cardiologist and professor at Umeå University and one of the study leaders. He believes it is the differences between obesity in rural areas and cities that are the most important of the results.
- With obesity comes, among other things, the risk of high blood pressure and diabetes that bring with it complications such as heart attack, he tells SVT.
"We have an obesity epidemic"Both men and women have higher BMI, ie body mass index, in the countryside than in the cities. Over 25 counts as overweight, over 30 as obesity. The rural men have an average BMI of 26.8 compared to 26.3 for those in the cities. The countryside women are at 25.4 and those in the cities at 24.8.
- We need to get public health workers and politicians to understand that we have an obesity epidemic. We require public health work on a broad front, from preschool and up. Otherwise, we risk segregated health and that ill health is greater in rural areas where you are also further away from hospitals and health care facilities, says Stefan Söderberg.