A descriptive examination of rurality in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Cohort: Implications, illustrations, and future directions.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

The Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort has enrolled over 60,000 children to examine how early environmental factors (broadly defined) are associated with key child health outcomes. The ECHO Cohort may be well-positioned to contribute to our understanding of rural environments and contexts, which has implications for rural health disparities research. The present study examined the outcome of child obesity to not only illustrate the suitability of ECHO Cohort data for these purposes but also determine how various definitions of rural and urban populations impact the presentation of findings and their interpretation.

Methods

This analysis uses data from children in the ECHO Cohort study who had residential address information between Januar

SUBMITTER: McCormack LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11702867 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature