Strengths:

• High rate of high school graduation
• Low prevalence of obesity
• Low prevalence of smoking

 

Challenges:

• High rate of preventable hospitalizations
• High rate of uninsured population
• Higher prevalence of sedentary lifestyle than most other states

 

Highlights:

• In the past five years, the rate of preventable hospitalizations declined from 83.9 to 68.8 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees.
• In the past ten years, infant mortality rates decreased from 6.5 to 5.3 deaths per 1,000 live births.
• In the past year, the percent of children in poverty rose from 12.8 percent to 17.4 percent of persons under age 18. In 2002, it was 9.1 percent.
• New Jersey has one of the lowest smoking rates in the U.S.; however, more than 1.1 million adults smoke in the state.
• Public health funding decreased from $69 to $65 per person in the last year.

 

Disparities:

• In New Jersey, sedentary lifestyle is more prevalent among Hispanics at 36.9 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 22.7 percent; and obesity is more prevalent among non-Hispanic blacks at 36.0 percent than Hispanics at 27.8 percent and non-Hispanic whites at 23.3 percent.

 

State Health Department Web Site: www.state.nj.us/health