Looks like New York City might need a gym membership.
The Bronx and Brooklyn ranked, respectively, 62nd and 58th out New York's 62 counties in a recent study by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute that determines and ranks the nation's counties healthiness. Counties are ranked according to factors such as mortality rate, tobacco use, unsafe sex, diet, exercise and access to health care, NBC New york reports.
Manhattan, although ranking a decent 25th, doesn't seem to think it's in very good shape. From the New York Post:
Despite having low premature-death rates -- in the bottom 10 percent in the nation -- Manhattan residents overwhelmingly reported being in poor mental and physical health.
In one quality-of-life indicator, a hefty 19 percent of Manhattan residents reported being in poor or fair health. That's almost twice the national average of 10 percent.
So while they may live longer, it turns out Manhattanites are just a little more depressed. New York Magazine reports that Manhattan residents report feeling 3.4 days of poor feelings, as opposed to the national average of just 2.3 days per month.
Queens county came in at 20th in the overall rankings and Staten Island (Richmond County) finished at 28th. (See all the rankings here).
The nationwide study found that the lowest ranking counties in the nation had some things in common. According to Time.com these counties had:
• significantly lower high school graduation rates
• more than twice as many children living below the poverty line
• fewer grocery stores and farmer's markets (which means more reliance on high-fat, high-calorie convenience food)
• high rates of unemployment
Some New York City officials see these factors in their neighborhoods and are not surprised. "Poor communities in central Brooklyn have historically poor health indicators because those indicators are socially related and arise from poverty and inequality," Yvonne Graham, deputy Brooklyn borough president, told NBC News. "Additionally, health disparities have been compounded by an influx of over half a million immigrants."
The study's website also highlights the efforts of the local government in high-ranking Wynadotte County, Kansas where community officials launched a Healthy Communities Initiative.