NR 443 Week 2 Discussion, Demographic and Epidemiological Assessment 1

NR 443 Week 2 Discussion, Demographic and Epidemiological Assessment 1 For this discussion, you will collect assessment data about your city or county. This post will include information about demographics (general characteristics). You will then find epidemiological data (disease or health behavior rates) about one priority health problem in your community. I currently live in the town of West Orange. I’ve been there since 2000. According to the US Census Bureau, the population of West Orange, NJ is approximately 48,435. People under 5 years make up 5.2%, people under 18 years make up 21.1% and people 65 years and over, make up 17.4% of West Orange population. West Orange is a pretty diverse town. In West Orange, white alone, consist of 57.7%, Black or African American alone is 27.4%, American Indian and Alaska Native alone is 0.2%, Asian alone is 8.1%, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone is 0.0%, two or more races is 3.2%, and Hispanic or Latino is 19.9%. According to Census Bureau Housing Units in West Orange, the median household income is $93,954, the per capita income in past 12 months is $46,849, and 7.6% of the population is in poverty. Owner-occupied housing unit rate is 67.0%, the median value of owner-occupied housing units is $370,200, the median selected monthly owner costs -with a mortgage is $3,061, the median selected monthly owner costs -without a mortgage is $1,500+, and the median gross rent is $1,450. I graduated from West Orange High School. My kids currently attend West Orange Public Schools and I can say their education is pretty good. In West Orange, 91.9% of the people ages 25+ is a high school graduate or higher, is 91.9% and 50% percent of the people ages 25+ have a bachelor's degree or higher. During my research I was astonished to see that a large amount of the adults in my county (Essex County) has obesity, I’m talking about 29%. According to (County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, 2018), “Adult Obesity is the percentage of the adult population (age 20 and older) that reports a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2.” As nurses, we know that obesity can be linked to other metabolic syndromes such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and which can lead to coronary heart disease, stroke, and asthma. Obesity can be preventable with effective weight loss strategies include dietary therapy, physical activity, and lifestyle modification. I think the demographic characteristics of housing, income, poverty contribute to level of obesity in the population because with the low family’s income and high living expenses like rent and mortgage, families have less money to spend on diet foods and gyms and they have less time to do exercises because they have to work to meet ends meet. Being a resident in New Jersey, I know that living here is expensive. References County Health Rankings and Roadmaps. (2018). Explore rankings. Retrieved from U.S. Census Bureau. (2018). State and county QuickFacts. Retrieved from