Rural areas known for warm hospitality and homemade sweet tea can also cater to obesity.
To help, UF received a $3.7 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute toward a study that will look at the impacts of rural area weight management programs.
Isolation from city programs that promote physical fitness and proper nutrition can build sedentary lifestyles among rural families that may potentially lead to health risks and obesity, said Michael G. Perri, dean of the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions.
The study, the Rural Lifestyle, Eating and Activity Program, includes an educational portion where residents of five rural counties receive training about how to follow healthy lifestyles for 16 weeks. Then, participants will receive follow-up treatment, including accountability phone calls, for more than a year afterward.
“The end game here would be for this to become a community program,” said Kristina von Castel-Roberts, a project coordinator for a UF weight management program.
The first phase will begin in January.
Danielle Lespinasse, a 27-year-old UF doctoral candidate in clinical health and psychology who will be recruiting participants and lecturing in the first phase, said she is looking forward to facilitating positive changes.
“For me, the most interesting part is getting to meet these people who have been struggling with obesity and helping them make those changes to be healthier,” she said.
The study will be working out of county Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences extension offices, which act as outlets for resources in rural communities, according to the IFAS website.
The information gained from the study will be used to develop more health programs for residents of less urbanized areas.
“People are able to lose weight when we give them these strategies,” Lespinasse said. “It’s been proven time and time again.”
