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High Diabetes and HIV Diagnoses Rates Afflict Bed-Stuy Residents: Report

By Camille Bautista | October 19, 2015 8:41am
 The diabetes rate in Bedford-Stuyvesant is the fifth-highest in the city, according to a new survey from the Department of Health.
The diabetes rate in Bedford-Stuyvesant is the fifth-highest in the city, according to a new survey from the Department of Health.
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BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Bedford-Stuyvesant has some of the highest rates of new HIV diagnoses and diabetes in the city, according to a new survey from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

The latest profile on Brooklyn’s Community District 3 found that while 77 percent of people self-reported their health as “excellent,” “very good” or “good,” Bed-Stuy has the fifth-highest rate of diabetes in New York City.

The neighborhood also ranks fifth-highest for new HIV diagnoses, with more than twice the Brooklyn and citywide rates, according to the report.

The top causes of death for locals, similar to most New Yorkers, are heart disease and cancer. HIV is the tenth-leading cause citywide, but is the fifth most common in the central Brooklyn neighborhood. 

Bed-Stuy fell into the top 10 of neighborhoods with the greatest amounts of adult psychiatric hospitalizations, teen births and elementary students missing school.

The area is the eighth-poorest neighborhood in the city, with about one in six adults aged 16 and older unemployed, the survey found.

When it comes to healthy living, adults in Bed-Stuy report similar rates of eating fruits and vegetables and being physically active compared to those in Brooklyn as a whole and New York City.

The report details the status of a broad set of conditions, including housing quality, education, incarceration and access to health care.

For the full results, as well as those in other Brooklyn neighborhoods, visit the health department’s website.