For the First Time, Survey Reveals Health and Well-being of Mercer County Children

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                      

January 5, 2012                                                                                         Contact: Nikki Reen (267.295.3859 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

New Data Presents Snapshot of Health Status, Access to Care, Neighborhood Amenities and Support

PHILADELPHIA – In early 2011, Public Health Management Corporation’s Community Health Data Base (CHDB) partnered with Children’s Futures to develop the first-ever survey specifically designed to assess the health and well-being of children  residing in Mercer County, New Jersey. Through a telephone survey conducted with adults in 1,001 households, CHDB and Children’s Futures collected information about randomly-selected children ages 0-17. The survey asked about a variety of child health and well-being indicators such as health status and chronic health conditions; usual source of care and utilization of care; child care and after-school activities, volunteering and employment; social skills; neighborhood amenities and social capital; community safety and school safety; and tobacco exposure in the home. Below are key highlights from the survey results:

Health Status and Access to Care

In Mercer County, approximately 5% of children age 0-17 years are in fair or poor health, representing about 3,900 children in the county. More specifically, within the county:

  • One in 10 Latino children (10.7%) is in fair or poor health, while 5.1% of Black children and 3.0% of White children are in fair or poor health.
  •  Children living below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level (12.0%) are four times more likely than children living at or above that poverty level (2.7%) to be in fair or poor health.

 Approximately 16,000 children age 0-17 years in Mercer County (18.5%) have ever had asthma. More specifically, within the county:

  • Older children are more likely than younger children to have ever had asthma—23% of children age 13-17 years, 18.2% of children age 6-12 years and 14.6% of children age 0-5 years.
  • Black children (26.2%) are more likely to have ever had asthma compared with Latino (20%), Asian (16.8%) and White (14.6%) children.

More than 5,600 of Mercer County’s children age 0-17 years (6.6%) do not have a regular source of health care. More specifically, within the county:

  • Children living below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level (11%) are twice as likely as children living at or above that poverty level (5.4%) to have no regular source of health care.

 More than one-quarter of children age 0-17 years residing in Mercer County (27.2%) visited the emergency room at least once in the past year, representing approximately 23,100 children in the county. The primary reason children visited an emergency room was that the doctor’s office or clinic was closed or it was a weekend or a holiday (40.0%). The second most common reason for an emergency room visit was that the problem was too serious for a doctor’s office or clinic (19.6%).

Neighborhood Amenities and Support

In Mercer County, 29.1% of children age 0-17 years live in neighborhoods without recreation or community centers. Additionally, 12.2% of children live in communities where adults do not help supervise each other’s children and 10.6% of children live in communities where adults do not trust each other to help their children.  More specifically, within the county:

  • Children living within Trenton (25.7%) are less likely than children living outside of Trenton (31.5%) to live in neighborhoods without recreation or community centers. Additionally, children living within Trenton are more than twice as likely as children living outside of Trenton to live in communities in which adults do not help supervise each other’s children (18.1% vs. 8.4%, respectively) or do not trust other adults to help with their children (18.4% vs. 5.3%, respectively).
  • Asian (34.2%), Latino (31.9%) and White (30.8%) children are more likely than Black children (22.3%) to live in neighborhoods within Mercer County without recreation or community centers. However, Latino (19.5%), Black (18.3%) and Asian (13.2%) children are more likely than White children (7.1%) to live in communities where adults do not help supervise each other’s children. Additionally, Latino (21.6%) and Black (14.6%) children are more likely than Asian (6.7%) and White (5.5%) children to live in communities where adults do not trust each other to help their children.
  • Children living below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level (32.2%) are more likely than children living at or above that poverty level (28.3%) to live in neighborhoods without recreation or community centers. Additionally, children living below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level are more likely than children living at or above that poverty level to live in communities where adults do not help supervise each other’s children (18.1% vs. 10.8%, respectively) or do not trust each other to help their children (18% vs. 8.6%, respectively).

For more information about these findings, please contact Nicole Dreisbach at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

About Children’s Futures

Since 2001, Children’s Futures has been working with partner organizations to improve health and development outcomes for children in Trenton and the surrounding area. Recognized by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation as one of the top eight nonprofit programs of its kind in the nation, Children’s Futures brings provider agencies together in a single, unified effort to support parents and children helping to prevent many of the issues that otherwise compromise the health and well-being of central New Jersey’s most vulnerable residents. For more information about Children’s Futures, please visit: www.childrensfutures.org.  

About CHDB

The Household Health Survey from Public Health Management Corporation’s Community Health Data Base is one of the largest regional health surveys in the country. The Pew Charitable Trusts, William Penn Foundation, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, United Way of North Penn, CIGNA Foundation, Green Tree Community Health Foundation, Philadelphia Foundation, North Penn Community Health Foundation, the Thomas Scattergood Foundation and over 350 local agencies from the health, government, nonprofit and academic sectors help to support CHDB. To view previous data news releases, please click here. For more information, please visit www.chdbdata.org.

About PHMC

Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) is a nonprofit public health institute that creates and sustains healthier communities. PHMC uses best practices to improve community health through direct service, partnership, innovation, policy, research, technical assistance and a prepared workforce.  PHMC has served the region since 1972.