New Yorkers cut back on smoking, sugary drinks; Gay men cut back on condoms

New Yorkers seem to have traded vices, as reports of unsafe sex are on the rise for gay men.

Fewer New Yorkers are smoking or sipping on sugary drinks, but an increasing number of gay men aren't using condoms, new Health Department data show.

The report card shows how much progress the Bloomberg administration has made toward its health goals for 2012, an effort called Take Care New York.

Yesterday's update shows residents have made improvements in many areas between 2007 and 2009, including a 7% drop in the number of smokers, a 12% nosedive in the number of New Yorkers who consume one or more sugar-laden drinks daily and a nearly 3% decrease in teen pregnancies.

Still, there were setbacks.

There was a 6% dip in the number of gay men regularly using condoms during sex and a 14% jump in the number of people with psychological problems who failed to get treatment.

And the gap between low-income families living in bad housing conditions compared to wealthier families who did remained stubbornly high.

The report also shows the city, in some areas, has a lot of work to do to meet its goals by next year.

A record low 16% of the population smokes, but the city hopes to bring that down even further - to 12% by 2012. Officials also hope to lower teen pregnancies from 83 per 1,000 to 70 per 1,000.

Health Commissioner Thomas Farley praised the progress his agency has made and promised to push ahead with his policies aimed at improving New Yorkers' health, including asking restaurants to reduce salt in food and handing out free nicotine patches to smokers.