Perceptions of the environment for eating and exercise in a rural community

To understand how members of a rural community perceive the effect of the built, natural, and social environments on their food choice and physical activity behaviors.

A constructivist community environmental assessment was conducted including 17 individual qualitative interviews, 2 focus groups, and photo elicitation (n = 27) in a rural northeastern community where over 60% of the adult population is overweight or obese.

Participants described social, natural, and physical environmental factors that influenced their food choice and physical activity behaviors. Overweight and obesity were variably presented as an individual and/or a collective problem. Participants described conflicting goals for food choice and physical activity in the community, and an interrelationship between the social and physical environments.

A community environmental assessment provides a view of the physical and social environments from the perspective of community residents that can serve as a foundation for locally tailored, community-based approaches to obesity prevention.