A barn decorated with a mural inspired by Grant Wood’s painting, “American Gothic,” is seen in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, January 25, 2015. Artist Mark Benesh recreated the original which was painted by Grant Wood. Iowa, the American heartland. Endless farm fields and quiet towns. 56,273 square miles that are soon to become the focus of the nation as the long process of electing the next U.S. president begins.
Credit: Reuters/Jim Young

Rates of obesity worldwide have nearly tripled since 1975, and the prevailing belief is that city living is to blame. But a major study that covers 112 million adults suggests that weight gain in rural areas is responsible for much of this increase.

Members of the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration — an international group of health scientists — analyzed over 2,000 studies of how body mass index (BMI) has changed around the world from 1985 to 2017. (BMI is a height-to-weight ratio that is a popular measure of obesity, though not without its flaws.) The results, published today in the journal Nature, […]