The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the nutrition and fitness levels of rural Illinoisans more than those in urban areas, according to experts who participated in a virtual Illinois Rural Health Summit earlier this week.
During the webinar, the school’s Center for Rural Health and Social Service Development, presenters shared that Illinois’ rural areas were at a health disadvantage prior to 2020, but the pandemic made things worse.
Sean Park, who coordinates manages the Value-Added Sustainable Development Center at Western Illinois University, likened the pandemic to an unexpected blizzard.
“This pandemic has been like a snowstorm for everyone. We were caught off-guard and hopefully, now access to healthy food and exercise becomes more of a priority.
Much of the discussion centered on “food deserts,” or high-poverty areas lacking convenient access to fresh food and vegetables. In some cases, rural counties in Illinois are without a grocery store. Presenters pointed to the lack of readily available healthy food as one reason for the higher obesity rate in rural areas.
“The data is powerful,” explained Sameer Vohra of the SIU School of Medicine’s Department of Population Science and Policy. “We know that more adults in rural areas are obese than in urban areas and we also know that many have to travel miles to buy groceries. So much of the fitness and nutrition needs of the rural population revolves around the infrastructure that is needed in our rural communities.”
Park said many rural areas are without grocers through simple economics: there is little to no profit for independent grocers.
“The grocery store industry is so competitive. They average about a 1% net profit,” he said. “You can invest a lot into a store for a very small return and that makes it tough for us to bring stores in.”
One solution, he said is a community-owned or cooperative approach.
“It’s about creating something where the main motivation in providing a service, not necessarily turning a profit. It really is ironic that we are in some of the best farm areas in the world, but we have these food deserts.”
Park compared the community approach to the establishment of rural electric cooperatives almost a century ago. He said the goal could be to “at least provide fresh fruits and vegetables.”
“This became even more important through COVID, especially with supply chain problems during the pandemic,” he added.
Rural populations also appear to be less fit than their urban neighbors.
“Rural areas also lack physical fitness infrastructures and resources. Despite a preconceived notion that rural residents “live off the land,” engage in manual labor and enjoy wide open spaces, the reality is that many rural residents lack transportation options to recreational centers, lack physical activity opportunities, have climate and terrain challenges, cost prohibitions, safety concerns and lack sidewalks and lighting,” according to the summit’s policy brief. It continues, “Additionally, some rural and remote communities may not have sufficient financial resources to build new or support existing parks, recreational facilities and designated open space.”
The summit recommends the development of public-private partnerships to design and develop infrastructures that promote healthy lifestyles, including parks and other recreation facilities.
“We know our rural communities have incredible open spaces, but often those spaces lack some of the facilities and have cost-prohibitions to encourage us to be fit and provide the right outlets for being active,” Vohra said.
The webinar is part of an-ongoing series of public discussions on rural health in the state presented by the SIU School of Medicine’s population and science policy department, Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute and the University of Illinois-Chicago School of Public Health.