Active and Healthy Communities | Vermont Department of Health

When the place where we live makes it easy for everyone to exercise and eat well, fewer people will suffer from injury, cancer, diabetes, stroke, heart and lung disease. Our goal is to help shape our communities to support health and well-being. To do this we:

promote safe, pleasant and accessible places for all people to walk, roll or bicycle
promote use of public transit
ensure access to healthy and affordable food
ensure safe, quality housing

We work with community organizations, municipal and regional planners, schools and health care providers. We begin with conversations to learn what is important to our community. From there, we find ways to weave in health and wellness improvements that fit the priorities of our towns, such as economic development. All Vermonters will thrive when our living conditions help to eliminate differences in health for different groups of people.

Use the Public Health Data Explorer to learn about health and wellness where you live.

My Healthy Vermont

My Healthy Vermont offers free workshops to help you prevent or manage chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and chronic pain.

How We Can Help

There are many ways that the Burlington office can help shape a healthier community. We can:

share examples of language that promotes health with cities and towns in order to strengthen regional plans.
provide a Safe Routes to Schools Regional Expert to provide support to schools.
provide public health data and information to inform planning.
provide education about why sidewalks and healthy foods options in local markets are important.
connect you with useful resources and provide examples of similar work done in other communities to help you on your way.
look for funds to help town officials and organizations support health-promoting efforts

Local Highlights

Healthy Community Design

Our office supports municipal staff, elected officials, and community members on healthy community design activities such as:

Using health data to inform decision-making.
Development of health supporting language in land use and transportation planning documents.
Conducting healthy community design public engagement during the planning process.
Helping municipalities implement healthy community design recommendations.

The Burlington Local Health Office supported the following healthy community design efforts:

ECOS Plan
Chittenden County Active Transportation Plan
Plan BTV Walk/Bike
Plan BTV Downtown and Waterfront
City of Burlington Housing Action Plan
Counter Tools
Burlington Bikeshare Expansion - reviewed the safety and health considerations of electrically assisted vehicles.
Jericho Town Plan - collaborated with the Planning Commission to include a health chapter in an update of the town plan.

Health Impact Assessment

A Health Impact Assessment studies the potential impacts to health of decisions about policies or programs. We have conducted Health Impact Assessments on four projects in our district:

3-4-50 Prevent Chronic Disease

What does 3-4-50 mean?

3 behaviors – lack of physical activity, poor diet, and tobacco use – lead to 4 chronic diseases – cancer, heart disease and stroke, type 2 diabetes, and lung disease – that are the cause of more than 50 percent of all deaths in Vermont.

This understanding inspires us to take action. Communities that are built to support physical activity, safe walking and biking, use of public transportation, and easy access to fresh foods are essential for good health.

See how Vermont Cities & Towns support health

3-4-50