How unhealthy is your city? These are the New Jersey statewide rankings

How unhealthy is your New Jersey City and how does it stand up to the rest of the cities in New Jersey?

Leafwell.com conducted a study to determine how unhealthy cities here in New Jersey match up. Factors that were weighted included Google searches for healthy lifestyles and were counted by the number of searches or lack thereof by population for healthy choices. 109 towns, cities, and regions in New Jersey were included in the survey. The survey looked at over 300 terms and weighed certain searches such as “gyms near me”, “the best way to lose belly fat”, “best aging cream”, “how to meditate” and many more.

The results were a little surprising to me. At the bottom of the list ranking with the least healthy searches per month per population are:

Elizabeth

Bayonne

Cliffside Park

Newark

The least healthy city in New Jersey is Union City. With a population of just over 65,000 people, Union City had a little over 1700 searches per month per 10,000 residents for “healthy” lifestyle terms.

Living healthy in New Jersey has become more efficient as gyms, yoga, and meditation opportunities are more prominent as are organic food choices and more farm-to-table options than five years ago.

It’s tough to maintain a healthy lifestyle in our urban areas here in New Jersey because of scheduling and income. The time it takes for public transportation use to and from work or school, longer hours at work, and reduced income produce less expensive fast-food choices, no discretionary income, or time for gyms reducing the alternatives to a healthy lifestyle.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host Big Joe Henry. Any opinions expressed are Big Joe’s own.

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