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Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground The prevalence of obesity continues to rise in the United States and is widely recognized as a major public health concern [1]. Low-income, ethnic/racial minorities and rural populations are at increased risk for obesity and related chronic conditions (e.g. diabetes, CVD) when compared to white, urban and higher-socio-economic status (SES) peers [2-4]. This continued rise in obesity rates and persistent disparities among sub-populations has led to renewed calls for efforts to eliminate dispar-ities and achieve equity in health for all groups [5]. It is increasingly evident that efforts focused on chan-ging individual behavior alone are not enough to reverse the current trends in obesity [6,7]. Recently, terms such as ‘obesogenic ’ are being used to describe environments in which influences beyond individual behavior ar