The Blueprint for Healthy Living in New Jersey
- (Photo : The Blueprint for Healthy Living in New Jersey)
It's no secret that leading a healthy lifestyle is important to enjoying a long and happy life. Adopting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is easy in communities that promote and encourage healthy living. New Jersey wants its residents to enjoy a high quality of life and to achieve this, the state has many educational and community initiatives in place. Here is a brief look at the blueprint for healthy living in New Jersey.
Healthy New Jersey 2020
The state of New Jersey is rolling out a new State Health Improvement Plan called Healthy New Jersey 2020, aimed at promoting health and disease prevention agendas. Modeled after the federal Healthy People 2020 initiative, New Jersey has a vision for a state where all people enjoy long, healthy lives.
At its core, Healthy New Jersey 2020 aims to pinpoint health improvement priorities, increase public awareness and information about the dangers of health, disease, and disability, and encourage sectors to take measures to strengthen policies and improve practices based on evidence and knowledge.
The goal is to help residents lead long, quality lives free of preventable disease, disability, injury, and premature death by creating a social environment that promotes good health practices.
Having access to medical care is a key step in maintaining health and preventing future illness and disease. Agile Health Insurance provides supplemental health care to add value to any health care benefits package. These products focus on health conditions that may be excluded from certain insurance plans, such as vision or dental insurance. Supplemental health products complement existing insurance plans and further encourage people to maintain all aspects of annual health checkups.
Coalition for a Healthy NJ
The Coalition for a Healthy NJ (CHNJ) strives to create healthier communities statewide by building a network of professionals and community members. Initially funded by the Centers for Disease Control, the CHNJ aims to support public health efforts to prevent chronic diseases, promote healthier lifestyles, lower health inequalities and monitor health care spending.
Tobacco-Free for a Healthy NJ has created 10 regional tobacco collaboratives to implement tobacco prevention efforts across the state through education and policy action. The Smoke-Free Air Act of 2006 was implemented to ensure that workers have a smoke-free workplace and that all nonsmokers breathe smoke-free air in public spaces. Electronic smoking devices were added to the law in 2010. As of 2017 all parks and beaches became smoke-free. The act mandates that "no smoking" signs are prominently displayed at public entrances.
All too often residents living in communities lacking supermarkets rely on corner stores as sources for food. Most of these corner stores lack fresh fruits and vegetables. With the help of the New Jersey Healthy Corner Store Initiative stores can offer fresh, nutritious, affordable food. The Initiative is a partnership between The Food Trust and the New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids connecting store owners and community leaders with the resources necessary to improve access to fresh produce and other healthy food items.
Get Moving-Get Healthy New Jersey
Improving the health of residents is the aim of Get Moving-Get Healthy New Jersey (GMGH). This is achieved by promoting healthy eating and physical activity through educational programs, publications, and targeted marketing.
To encourage residents to get moving, JerseyBike (formally Hudson Bike Share) provides bike sharing in Hoboken, NJ. With hundreds of conveniently located stations throughout the city, JerseyBike allows users to check out and return bikes interchangeably. Hop on a bike to commute to work, run errands, sightsee or just enjoy a leisurely ride around the city while getting in daily exercise.
