New Jersey

New Jersey is 17^th this year; it was 18^th in 2003. Its strengths include a high rate of school graduation with 89.8 percent of incoming ninth graders who graduate within four years, a low rate of motor vehicle deaths at 1.0 deaths per 100,000,000 miles driven, a low occupational fatalities rate at 3.6 deaths per 100,000 workers, a low prevalence of smoking at 19.4 percent of the population and a low percentage of children in poverty at 11.2 percent of persons under age 18. Challenges include low support for public health with 1.2 percent of the state health budget allocated to public health, a high incidence of infectious disease at 34.2 cases per 100,000 population and low access to adequate prenatal care with only 68.1 percent of pregnant women receiving adequate prenatal care. New Jersey is 17^th for the combined measures of risk factors and 22^nd for the combined measures of outcomes, indicating that it may remain steady or improve its relative healthiness in future years if it continues reducing health risk factors. Health disparities are widespread in the state, as shown by differences in access to adequate prenatal care and in premature death rates among races. Just 50.1 percent of pregnant black women receive adequate prenatal care compared to 72.0 percent of pregnant white women.

In the past year, the infant mortality rate declined from 6.4 to 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births, and per capita public health spending declined from $32 to $14 per person.

Since 1990, the prevalence of smoking has declined from 27.9 percent to 19.4 percent of the population, the high school graduation rate has increased from 79.7 percent to 89.8 percent of incoming ninth graders who graduate within four years and access to adequate prenatal care has decreased from 72.0 percent to 68.1 percent of pregnant women receiving adequate prenatal care.

To learn more about health and health initiatives in New Jersey, visit the New Jersey state department of health Web site at: www.state.nj.us/health/

A dash (--) indicates data not available.
* Data sources and/or methdology may not be comparable for this year.