Enhancing the Quality of Life for New Jersey

Healthy Lifestyles

Situation

New Jersey residents need research based information in several areas related to healthy lifestyle including: nutrition, health literacy, health finance, physical activity, food safety, food allergies and environmental health, mainly reducing asthma triggers.

Assumptions

When individuals adopt behaviors that promote health, such as incorporating proper nutrition, physical activity, food safety practice, food allergy awareness, health literacy and environmental health behaviors, their quality of life can be improved. The risk of disease or death can be decreased.

Expected Outcomes

Short Term
Individuals will gain awareness, knowledge, skills related to:

  • Improved attitudes about healthy eating for adults
  • Increased knowledge/skills of healthy food choices for adults
  • Increased knowledge of benefits of physical activity (reduced overweight and obesity, reduced risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer)
  • Increased knowledge related to food safety practices
  • Increased knowledge about food allergies
  • Increased knowledge related to asthma
  • Increased knowledge related to health literacy/health finance

Medium Term

  • Individuals will incorporate skills/change behaviors related to:
  • Increased adoption of healthy food practices
  • Increased consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy
  • Increased participation in physical activity
  • Increased food safety practices
  • Increased adoption of behaviors to reduce food allergy incidence
  • Increased behaviors to reduce asthma triggers
  • Increased positive behaviors related to health literacy/finance

Long Term
Individuals will experience:

  • Decreased overweight and obesity
  • Decreased risk factors for nutrition-related health problems and chronic diseases that are affected by diet and physical activity
  • Decreased incidence of foodborne illness
  • Decreased incidence of food allergy reactions
  • Decreased exposure to asthma triggers
  • Decreased health communication errors related to literacy
  • Decreased incidence of poor health finances

  1. Rutgers
  2. Executive Dean of Agriculture and Natural Resources
  3. School of Environmental and Biological Sciences