The Nutrition and Weight Status targets for Healthy People 2020 reflect solid

science supporting the medical advantages of eating a healthful diet and maintaining a
healthy body weight. The targets likewise underline that endeavors to change eating
regimen and weight ought to address individual behaviors, and in addition the policies and
environments that support these behaviors in settings, for example, schools, worksites,
health care organizations, and communities. Obesity can lead to serious health problems,
such as diabetes and heart disease. At 27%, the rate of obesity in Kingsbridge Heights and
Bedford is over three times the rate in Stuyvesant Town and Turtle Bay located in the
community. The diabetes rate in Kingsbridge Heights and Bedford is 15%, five times the
rate in Stuyvesant Town and Turtle Bay. Obesity is a problem throughout the population.
However, among adults, the prevalence is highest for middle-aged people and for nonHispanic black and Mexican American women. Among children and adolescents, the
prevalence of obesity is highest among older and Mexican American children and nonHispanic black girls. The association of income with obesity varies by age, gender, and
race/ethnicity (Odgen et al., 2007).
Kingsbridge Heights and Bedford Park
Bedford Park and Kingsbridge Heights are located in the central western region of
the Bronx. Bedford Park is bound by Mosholu Parkway to the northeast; Webster Avenue
and Bronx Park to the southeast; 196th Street to the southwest; and Jerome Avenue to the
northwest. Kingsbridge Heights is bound by Kingsbridge Road to the southwest, Goulden
Avenue to the northwest, Jerome Avenue to the southeast, and Fordham Road to the
southwest. South of the modern-day New York City line, the Town of Kingsbridge and the
entire western half of the Bronx were annexed by the City of New York in 1874 from the
Town of Yonkers. The area now known as Bedford Park, was mostly farmland and
considered a suburb of New York City. The area began developing with the construction of
the Jerome Park Racecourse--the first home of the famous Belmont Stakes horserace--until
it was moved to Morris Park in 1890. To attract the wealthy to the Racecourse, Leonard
Jerome, one of the original builders of the racecourse, built what is today Jerome Avenue.
Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx, which has been vacant since 1996 and occupies a full
City block, will be redeveloped into a 750,000-square-foot ice sports facility to be known
as Kingsbridge National Ice Center (KNIC). Kingsbridge National Ice Center will feature
nine year-round indoor ice rinks, including a 5,000-seat feature rink for major ice hockey
and skating events. Developed for military use, the Armory will now become a cultural and
recreational asset for our great borough and city in the near future. (Gonzalez et al., 2006).
To store fresh water from the New Croton Aqueduct, construction began to convert
Jerome Park into the Jerome Park Reservoir Manhattan in 1890. Bedford Park began to
take shape, with forty "villas" built on a 23-acre stretch, in a planned community modeled
on the London "garden" neighborhood named Bedford Park. The area became a part of the
newly created Borough of the Bronx in 1898, and with the completion of Jerome Park
Reservoir in 1906 became a valuable asset for the much-expanded New York City. The
Italian and Irish immigrants who worked on the Jerome Park Reservoir project soon
anchored the community there. Since the mid- to late-90s, a number of factors, such as the
American recession and an end to the Troubles, contributed to the emigration of the Irish
population from this area. As the Irish emigrated, the Latino community, consisting mostly
of Puerto Rican and Dominican immigrants, pushed up from the South Bronx and
Manhattan. At the time, Puerto Ricans were the citys most sizeable Latino minority group,

steadily arriving in New York City from the early 1900s for jobs and wartime demand for
labor. The Dominican population, now the most sizeable minority group in New York,
started arriving in noticeable numbers in the 1960s as economic disparity in the Dominican
Republic increased. Caribbean and South American Latinos are now the majority in the
area. Due to its unique location as a hub for close and easy public transportation, open
space parks, excellent public schools, and nearby shopping venues, this cluster of West
Bronx neighborhoods has recently seen a huge increase in population, building and
commercial construction (Gonzalez et al., 2006).
Kingsbridge Heights is dominated by multi-unit detached homes. There is also a
significant presence of tenement buildings concentrated mostly in the central and southern
sections of the neighborhood. In the northern subsection known as Van Courtlandt Village
there is a number of larger luxury buildings. The Jerome Park Reservoir is the most
dominant landmark in the area. Due to White flight some of the homes in the southern and
central parts of the area have been left vacant. Many homes today are being rehabilitated
and offered as rentals to the booming Dominican population found in the area. At the same
time higher end construction is taking place in the northernmost section of the
neighborhood. Bedford Park is dominated by 5 or 6-story tenements and three-story
Victorian houses. The apartments on the Grand Concourse are often taller. Tracey Towers
are two 41-story subsidized apartment buildings built close to the Jerome Park Reservoir.
Designed by noted architect Paul Rudolph, they were completed in 1972 as a part of New
York City's Mitchell Lama housing development initiative. The total land area is a little less
then half a square mile. A higher percentage of homes in Kingsbridge Heights and Bedford
have maintenance defects compared with homes citywide. The Jerome Avenue
Neighborhood Planning Study is a part of Housing New York, the Mayors housing plan to
build and preserve affordable housing through community development initiatives and to
foster a more equitable and livable New York City.
Most businesses in the Bronx are small; in 2011, two-thirds employed fewer than 5
employees and 80 percent employed fewer than 10 employees. Still, the Bronx had 21
businesses that employed 1,000 or more people: 15 were in the health care and social
assistance sectors (7 hospitals, 3 home health care services, 3 nursing care facilities and 2
agencies providing services to the elderly and people with disabilities), and 3 were in
higher education. While health care and social assistance accounted for only 13 percent of
businesses in 2011, these businesses were responsible for nearly 40 percent of the jobs.
The growth in the number of business establishments in the North Bronx exceeded 25
percent between 2000 and 2011, faster than the borough-wide growth rate during this
period. In 2011, most businesses in the North Bronx were involved in retail trade, real
estate leasing and rental activities, health care or social assistance. Between 2000 and 2011,
the number of restaurants nearly doubled in the North Bronx, and the number of business
establishments involved in educational services, transportation and warehousing, and retail
trade grew by more than 50 percent. . (DiNapoli, T., 2013)

Today, Bedford Park is home to a number of prestigious high schools, colleges, and some
of the oldest churches in the city, which reflect the diverse population that started this
community. Some of the churches in the area include the Bedford Park Congregational
Church which dates to 1882 and was designated a City Landmark in 2000, the Roman

Catholic Church of St. Philip Neri which was a mission church for immigrant Italian
laborers, who also worked on the construction of the Jerome Park Reservoir and the
Convent of Mount St. Ursula, established in 1892 (today standing as The Academy of Mt.
St. Ursula, an all-girls prep-school.) The schools and colleges in the area include schools
located in the area referred to as the Educational Mile, which included three high schools
(Walton, DeWitt Clinton, and the Bronx High School of Science) along with the Bronx
campus of Hunter College (now Lehman College). Currently, the Walton Campus houses
four high schools (Discovery, Kingsbridge International, Celia Cruz High School for
Music, and the High School for Teaching and the Professions) and one secondary school
(International School for Liberal Arts). Two of the nine specialized high schools in New
York City are in the area, which includes Bronx High School of Science and the High
School of American Studies at Lehman College. In Kingsbridge Heights and Bedford,
about one in five adults have a college degree. However, almost one-third of adults have
not completed high school.
Montefiore has identified the Bronx as its primary service area. More
than 85% of Montefiores hospitals discharges are residents of the
Bronx, and it is within this geographic area that Montefiore has
distributed the vast majority of its community-based primary care and
specialty ambulatory services. Montefiore is a leader in community
health and has a long history of developing innovative approaches to
care and tailoring programs to best serve the changing needs of its
community. These include, but are not limited to the following:
Community Service Plan, Community Services Strategy, Accountable
Care Organization, Patient-Centered Medical Home, Disease
Management Programs, and Community Outreach. The integration of
these innovative approaches serves Montefiore well in its services to its
community.
Montefiore has a vast portfolio of programs and services that address a
majority of the significant community health needs identified in the
Community Health Needs Assessment. The breadth and depth of the
programs and services vary, but each address a need identified in the
community.

Living in poverty limits healthy lifestyle choices and makes it difficult to access health care
and resources that can promote health and prevent illness. Unemployment and unaffordable
housing are also closely associated with poverty and poor health. About one in six
Kingsbridge Heights and Bedford adults ages 16 and older is unemployed, and nearly twothirds of residents spend more than 30% of their monthly gross income on rent. A lack of
quality health care can lead to negative health outcomes and more intensive treatment, such
as avoidable hospitalizations. Over one-quarter of adults in Kingsbridge Heights and
Bedford have no health insurance, and one in nine goes without needed medical care,

similar to the percentages citywide. Prior to 2014, 20% of adults in NYC had no health
insurance; however, with implementation of the Affordable Care Act, this percentage
decreased to 14% citywide in 2014. A similar decrease is expected in Kingsbridge Heights
and Bedford.

The injury assault rate in Kingsbridge Heights and Bedford is higher than the
citywide rate.

Smoking, poor quality diet and physical inactivity are risk factors for high blood pressure,
diabetes and other problems. Adults in Kingsbridge Heights and Bedford smoke, eat fruits
and vegetables and are physically active at rates similar to residents of the Bronx and the
city as a whole. However, adults in Kingsbridge Heights and Bedford are more likely to
consume sugary drinks than adults citywide.

Montefiore is a leader in community health and has a long history of

developing innovative approaches to care and tailoring programs to best
serve the changing needs of its community. These include, but are not
limited to the following: Community Service Plan, Community Services
Strategy, Accountable Care Organization, Patient-Centered Medical
Home, Disease Management Programs, and Community Outreach. The
integration of these innovative approaches serves Montefiore well in its
services to its community.
Montefiore has a vast portfolio of programs and services that address a
majority of the significant community health needs identified in the
Community Health Needs Assessment. The breadth and depth of the
programs and services vary, but each address a need identified in the
community.

According to Healthy People 2020,4 about 75% of Americans do not eat enough fruit, more
than half do not eat enough vegetables, and 64% consume too much saturated fat. The diets
of many population subgroups contain too much total fat, saturated fat, and calories but not
enough of other important elements such as calcium. Low fruit and vegetable consumption
and high saturated fat intake are associated with coronary heart disease, some cancers, and

diabetes. The problems associated with poor diet, physical inactivity, and obesity affect
most population segments; however, there are marked disparities in the impact that these
problems have on various groups of people, particularly by race/ethnicity and by education
level. Adults in Kingsbridge Heights and Bedford are more likely to consume sugary
drinks than adults citywide and less likely to practice physical activity. Because poor
dietary habits and physical inactivity are associated with many adverse health outcomes,
most adults and children could benefit from interventions designed to improve their eating
habits and increase their activity levels. Such intervention programs fall into three general
categories: health promotion, primary prevention, and secondary prevention. The goal of
health promotion is to help people establish an active lifestyle and healthy eating habits
early in life and to maintain these behaviors throughout their lives. The goal of primary
prevention is to help people who have risk factors for chronic disease (e.g., elevated blood
pressure or serum cholesterol levels) prevent or postpone the onset of disease by
establishing more active lifestyles and healthier eating habits. The goals of secondary
prevention are to help people who already have a chronic disease cope with and control
these conditions and to prevent additional disability by increasing their physical activity
and establishing more healthful eating patterns.

The population in the Kingsbridge Heights and Bedford is troubled by a

bunch of health challenges and financial circumstances that foster
weakness results. It is the least healthy population in New York State,
and has high rates of chronic disease such as diabetes, cardiovascular
disease, and respiratory disease including asthma/COPD, cancer and
high rates of obesity. The Kingsbridge Heights and Bedford leads New
York State in the rate of unexpected losses in people aged less than 65
years; the leading causes of these deaths in the county are cancer, heart
disease, unintentional injury, AIDS and diabetes. The Kingsbridge Heights
and Bedford also outpaces NYC overall in household poverty and low
educational attainment, and is approximately on par with city rates of
unemployment and health insurance. From the perspective of the

community, the main health issues include diabetes,

obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease, asthma, violence

and behavioral health issues, including anxiety,
8
depression and substance use. Community members
clearly connect these common health conditions to
conditions of poverty, includingbut not limited to
insecurity with respect to housing and other basic needs,
unsafe environments, and poor access to healthy foods.
The community members associate health problems with
depression, and likewise depression with poverty. People
reported concerns about jobs, housing, access to
government benefits programs, and the safety of their
streets. A dramatic indicator of poverty, with obvious
health implications, is food insecurity (hunger), which was
described as a challenge by multiple respondents.

An Economic Snapshot of the Bronx - Thomas P. Di Napoli. (2013, July). Retrieved

August 1, 2016, from http://www.osc.state.ny.us/osdc/rpt4-2014.pdf
Bronx Community District 7: KINGSBRIDGE HEIGHTS AND BEDFORD. (2015).
Retrieved August 1, 2016, from
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/data/2015chp-bx7.pdf
Nueva York - Carolina Gonzalez, Seth Kugel sur Fnac.com. (2006). Retrieved August
01, 2016, from http://www4.fnac.com/livre-numerique/a7342407/Carolina-GonzalezNueva-York

THE NAMES OF THE NEIGHBORHOODS OF THE BRONX - Forgotten New

York. (2008). Retrieved August 02, 2016, from http://forgotten-ny.com/2014/02/thenames-of-the-neighborhoods-of-the-bronx/

New York State Department of Health. Retrieved July 31, 2016, from
https://www.health.ny.gov/statistics/vital_statistics/2010/table02.htm

- Bronx River Alliance. (n.d.). Retrieved July 31, 2016, from

http://bronxriver.org/?pg=content