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Proper nutrition and exercise is integral for the prevention and management of chronic diseases such as type two diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease. However, health care disparities in the United States, such as lack of access to primary health care, has been an ever growing problem. The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a correlation between being uninsured and having worse health outcomes, and to determine if there is a need for accessible nutrition and/or exercise resources for this population. To conduct this research, a survey was distributed at the Cherry Hill Free Clinic and the Cooper Rowan Clinic in South Jersey. The survey data was imported into Qualtrics and then exported into SPSS Statistics. In SPSS, a combination of chi square tests and t-tests were conducted. The results showed that there is a correlation between BMI, age, and less access to exercise, to the prevalence of chronic conditions. The results also showed that participants with a BMI greater than thirty and those that have one or more chronic conditions ranked their health lower on a scale of poor to excellent and expressed interest in receiving nutrition and exercise resources if made accessible to them. Understanding the health care disparities that exist for uninsured individuals and the risk factors that lead to poor health outcomes will provide awareness to the importance for more accessible care as it is related to nutrition and exercise.
Paparo et al. (Thu,) studied this question.