(NBC NEWS) — Americans living in rural areas are dying more frequently from preventable causes.
That is according to a new report from the CDC which included eight years of national health data.
It showed people living in the most rural counties were more likely to die from preventable diseases like cancer, heart disease, stroke and COPD than their urban peers.
The gap in the percentages of preventable deaths between rural and urban counties widened over the study period and was the highest in the southeast.