WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service issued the following article: * * * U.S. Obesity Rate Changes Differ for Rural and Urban Areas, as Well as Across Regions By Mariah Ehmke and Brandon J. Restrepo Highlights * Despite a slight decline in the U.S. overall obesity rate from March 2022-2023 to March 2023-2024, rural obesity rates rose 0.5 percentage points during the same time. * The U.S. obesity rates in rural areas were higher than urban rat  more