Advocates demand health improvements in the Bronx

<p>Health advocates rallied Monday to demand the city step up its efforts to improve Bronx health issues after the borough was listed as the unhealthiest county in the state.</p>

News 12 Staff

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Oct 29, 2018, 11:54 PM

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Updated 2,246 days ago

Health advocates rallied Monday to demand the city step up its efforts to improve Bronx health issues after the borough was listed as the unhealthiest county in the state.

The Bronx was ranked 62 out of 62 counties in New York for the past nine years by an annual report that ranks counties in the U.S.

Advocates and local leaders chanted #Not62, which is also being used on social media to demand improvements.

Councilman Fernando Cabrera says he's looking at what students eat and is proposing to ban processed foods like bologna at schools.

Chairmaine Ruddock of the Institute for Family Health says that since the release of the health report nine years ago, the Bronx has made strides in getting healthier.

Advocates say they're pushing for a meeting with Mayor Bill de Blasio to demand the city make the Bronx a priority.

They say the gap in adequate health care services continues to widen in the county, and that this issue is the one of the Bronx's biggest health disparities.