NJ's Healthiest Counties: Where Does Bergen Fall On The List?
BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — An annual ranking of how healthy each U.S. county is puts Bergen County near the top of the list in New Jersey.
Bergen, the state's most populous county, was fourth in the state in rankings for both health outcomes (length of life and quality of life) and health factors (behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment).
People in Bergen County had lower rates of adult obesity, physical inactivity, and sexually transmitted infections than the state average. And generally in Bergen, there are more physicians, dentists, and mental health providers than in the rest of the state, data shows.
Bergen County had a lower premature death (death under 75) rate than the state average. And residents of Bergen have a slightly higher life expectancy (82.1 years) than the rest of the state (79.5 years).
However, the number of Bergen people who said they were in poor or fair health, and the number of poor mental and physical health days throughout the year, was similar or slightly higher than the state average.
And, the smoking rate in Bergen (13 percent) is the same as the state average. Eighteen percent of residents reported binge drinking or heavy drinking in Bergen County, compared to 16 percent statewide.
From 2018-2020, the leading cause of death for Bergen County residents was cancerous tumors, the study showed. More than 2,200 residents died of cancer during this time period. A total of 1,962 Bergen residents died of COVID-19 in 2020, data shows, with 639 of these people under the age of 75.
Related: See NJ's Healthiest And Least Healthiest Counties For 2022: Report
County Health Rankings is a program led by the University of Wisconsin's Population Health Institute seeking to understand what influences how long and how well we live.
The rankings look at length and quality of life while taking into account different measures that affect a community's health, including smoking, diet and exercise, alcohol and drug use, and sexual activity. Rates for education, income, and community safety are also incorporated.
This year the rankings include deaths attributable to COVID-19 from 2020.
Overall, Morris County once again ranked number 1 among all counties in the Garden State while Cumberland County ranked as the least healthy.
The rankings also look to help communities better address disparities in health care access.
"Communities thrive when all people can be healthy in their neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces. CHR&R brings actionable data and strategies to communities working to ensure that healthy places are available to all," the organization wrote on its website.
Here's a look at the measures used to calculate your county's overall ranking:
Health Outcomes
Premature death
Adults reporting fair or poor health
Physically unhealthy days reported in the past 30 days
Mentally unhealthy days reported in the past 30 days
Live births with low birth weight
Health Factors - Health Behaviors
Adult smokers
Adult obesity
Healthy Food Environment Index
Physical inactivity
Residents with access to exercise opportunities
Excessive drinking
Driving deaths attributed to alcohol impairment
Sexually transmitted infections
Teen births
Health Factors - Clinical
Uninsured residents
Primary care physicians
Dentists
Mental health providers
Preventable hospital stays
Mammography screenings
Flu vaccinations
Health Factors - Social And Economic
High school completion
College education
Unemployment
Children in poverty
Income inequality
Children in single-parent households
Social associations
Violent crime
Injury deaths
County Health Rankings used data from a variety of sources to compile this year's rankings. To see New Jersey's full report on the website.
NJ's Healthiest Counties: Where Does Bergen Fall On The List? originally appeared on the Wyckoff Patch
