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Bronx Is The Least Healthy, Most STD-Ridden County In NY
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 31, 2011
Modified Mar 31, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 31, 2011
Modified Mar 31, 2011
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We already knew the murder rate was pretty bad in the Bronx, but can't a borough catch a break? In an annual study that determines and ranks the nation's counties healthiness, the Bronx was the unhealthiest county in NY state. This is the second year in a row that the Bronx was ranked last in the state...but at least they can comfort themselves that Brooklyn is starting to catch up!
In the study, by the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Bronx ranked last in almost every category, including morbidity and "social and economic factors." They study found that 26 percent of adults are in poor or fair shape, compared to 16 percent statewide and 10 percent nationwide; they found that there were 8,139 premature deaths per 100,000 people, compared to a state average of 5,933; and single parents households are 63 percent, compared to 20 percent nationally. Especially disturbing: the teen birth rate in the Bronx is twice the national average, and the STD rate is approximately 1300 percent greater than national average—they had 1,145 STDs per 100,000 people in the Bronx vs. a national average of 83. To be fair, they were only 250 percent greater than the NY state average.
Brooklyn didn't fare that much better: it was ranked 58 overall out of the 62 NY counties. It had especially bad stats with "social and economic factors", physical environments, and morbidity; they had greater rates of STDs and excessive drinking than the national average. Interestingly, Brooklyn also had a worse ranking of access to healthy foods than both the Bronx and the national rate. Guess the healthy food movement's impact on Brooklyn has been greatly overstated.
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county
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health factors
sexually transmitted diseases
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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