This study investigates spatial disparities in obesity among different racial and ethnic groups from the urban-rural perspective through a case study of the southeastern United States, a region marked by its prevalence of chronic diseases and degree of residential segregation. Two proposed measures-local/global entropy indexes and a set of the obesity-segregation combined index (OBESEG)-are prescribed to exploit the degree of spatial disparity between counties' obesity rate and residential segregation in the urban-rural perspective. A strong interrelationship is confirmed between obesity rates and residential segregation, particularly for high levels of obesity and residential segregation, as well as for low levels of obesity and residential segregation at the county level. The findings identify several clusters of obesity-segregation correlation across the region. This urban-rural perspective helps reveal that clusters of rural areas have a high degree of segregation, whereas urban areas tend to create clusters of counties having less segregation and less obesity. Key Words: entropy index, obesity-residential segregation, obesity-segregation combined index, spatial disparity.
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