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Rural Minnesotans smoke more than their urban cousins. They're fatter. They exercise less.

They die more frequently from diabetes, stroke and heart disease.

On the other hand, rural Minnesotans are less likely to suffer from venereal disease or AIDS and they get murdered less often.

report the Minnesota Department of Health

 released today. Given what we know from past studies, none of the findings are particularly surprising (see our 

), but the report updates an analysis the department did in 2005.

The report doesn't address why these differences exist, but analyst Paul Jansen, who put it together, says there could be a lot of factors. Access to primary care is one possibility. The hope, he said, is that identifying the disparities will help bring more focused attention in the areas its needed and that people will uncover causes.

To that end, one of the report's most interesting compilations is its region-by-region summaries.

The seven counties of northeastern Minnesota, for example, exhibit the highest rates of deaths due to diabetes, heart disease, cancer and cirrhosis.

Southwestern Minnesota, on the other hand, has a relatively low death rate from Alzheimer's disease but the state's highest proportion of people who say their health is only fair or poor.

Health

Minnesota News

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Dave Peters

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The Minnesota Department of Health released a study showing health differences among rural areas of the state and the cities.

New study: Rural Minnesotans suffer chronic disease more, are less insured

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