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A new study has found that obesity is more common among Americans dwelling in rural areas than those from the urban sectors.  

According to the study, Led by researchers at the University of Kansas, the locality where one resides may have a significant role in the obesity epidemic.

For the study, the researchers analyzed data from the National Center for Health Statistics and depended on measured heights and weights rather than self-reported data, like previous studies which typically end up underestimating the prevalence of obesity.

According to Christie Befort, Ph.D., assistant professor of preventive medicine and public health at the University of Kansas Medical Center and lead author of the study, there could be two causes behind rural residents being overweight: cultural diet and physical isolation, Medical Xpress reported.

"There is a definite cultural diet in rural America, full of rich, homemade foods including lots of meat and dessert," said Befort.

Also, the study examined demographic and lifestyle factors and found that there is a higher fat intake among rural Americans. Another persisting problem among residents of rural sector is the difficulty in accessing health care and lifestyle activities.

"Access is often about travel time in a rural area, but it can also be that there's no place to go---literal physical isolation," said Befort. "It's tough to get to a gym if you live outside of a town without one."

Further findings of the research suggested that the difference in obesity between the urban and rural sector residents was prevalent only among the younger age groups (20-39 years) and not in the older citizens.

According to Befort, the possible reason behind this could be the increased mechanization of previously labor-intensive jobs.

"Physical activity is now needed to compensate for diet and technology," said Befort. "That requires cultural change because rural areas typically don't have a culture of physical activity as leisure time."

For the study, the researchers considered and examined various factors, thought to influence obesity, such as diet, physical activity, age, race, gender and education. However, despite considering the constants, the results were the same.  

"Living in a rural area isn't always recognized as a category for obesity-related health disparities but, according to our study, it should be," said Befort.

"We simply cannot ignore the link between obesity and poverty, and the disproportionate impact this is having on rural America," said Alan Morgan, the National Rural Health Association's CEO. "If we truly want to decrease health care costs and improve the nation's health status, we are going to have to start viewing obesity as a top-tier public health concern for rural Americans."

The findings were published in the National Rural Health Association's Fall 2012 Journal of Rural Health.