Last Updated: August 2019

Author: Physical Activity and Nutrition Program, Vermont Department of Health

The percent of Vermont adolescents grades 9-12 meeting the national physical activity guidelines of 60 minutes per day, every day, has remained around 25% over the past several years. This can be attributed to a number of factors, both cultural and environmental.

The limited opportunities for youth to be active in their everyday lives plus a culture that supports screen time for “recreation” has resulted in significantly low rates of physical activity for youth overall. Adolescents spend long hours, mostly sitting, in school and arrive home only to spend long hours sitting in front of televisions and computer screens. The rural nature of Vermont and its poor “active transportation” infrastructure (i.e. incomplete or inadequate sidewalks, bicycle facilities, public transit) further adds to youth (and adults) spending additional time sitting in cars to get to where they need or want to go.

Being physically active has many benefits and is one of the most important things people can do to improve their health.

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, regular physical activity in children and adolescents promotes health and fitness. Compared to those who are inactive, physically active youth have higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness and stronger muscles. They also typically have lower body fatness. Their bones are stronger and they may have reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Adolescents who are regularly active also have a better chance of a healthy adulthood. In the past, chronic diseases, such as heart disease, hypertension, or type 2 diabetes were rare in youth. However, a growing literature is showing that the incidence of these chronic diseases and their risk factors are now increasing among children and adolescents. Regular physical activity makes it less likely that these risk factors and resulting chronic diseases will develop and more likely that adolescents will remain healthy as adults.

Any amount of physical activity is beneficial. Ideally, children and adolescents should have at least 1 hour of physical activity every day, and it should include mostly aerobic activity and some muscle- and bone-strengthening activities.

This indicator is part of Healthy Vermonters 2020 (the State Health Assessment) that documents the health status of Vermonters at the start of the decade and the population health indicators and goals that will guide the work of public health through 2020. Click here for more information.

This indicator is also part of the State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP), a five-year plan that prioritizes broad Healthy Vermonters 2020 goals: reducing prevalence of chronic disease, reducing prevalence of substance abuse and mental illness, and improving childhood immunizations. The SHIP is a subset of HV2020 and details strategies and planned interventions. Click here for more information.

• Vermont Department of Health, Offices of Local Health
• Agency of Education
• SHAPE-VT: Society of Health and Physical Educators of Vermont
• Early childcare providers and youth serving agencies
• Vermont Agency of Transportation – Safe Routes to School
• Regional Planning Commissions
• Municipal planners and officials (parks and recreation, public works, select boards)
• Governors Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
• Department of Forest Parks and Recreation
• Healthcare providers

Schools play a critical role in improving the dietary and physical activity behaviors of children and adolescents. Schools can create environments supportive of students’ efforts to eat healthy and be active by implementing policies and practices that support healthy eating and regular physical activity and by providing opportunities for students to learn about and practice these behaviors. However, to have the most positive impact on adolescent health, government agencies, community organizations, schools, and other community members must work together in a comprehensive approach.

According to the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion’s Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Midcourse Report: Strategies to Increase Physical Activity Among Youth, wide implementation of “multi-component school-based programs” is recommended. These types of programs provide enhanced physical education (PE) (e.g., increased lesson time, delivery by well-trained specialists, and instructional practices that provide substantial moderate-to-vigorous physical activity), as well as classroom activity breaks, activity sessions before and/or after school, and active transportation to school.

The way land is used in a community (the “built environment”) is important because this can offer the potential to increase activity for all youth, not only those who elect to participate in specific programs or activities, which may be affected by socioeconomic factors. Multiple stakeholders play an important role in promoting physical activity in this setting, including those in transportation, town and regional planning, and public safety, whose primary mission is not physical activity promotion.

All schools in the US that participate in federal school food programs are required to have School Wellness Policies in place addressing nutrition, physical education, and physical activity.The Vermont Department of Health worked with the Agency of Education (and others) to create School Wellness Policy Guidelines plus offer grant awards and “technical assistance” through Offices of Local Health staff, to assist schools with developing and implementing polices that include improving opportunities for students to be physically active before, during, and after school.

The Vermont Department of Health collaborates with the state and local Safe Routes to School program, helping to improve the “built environment” around schools to support safe walking and biking to and from school.

In addition, since 2008, the Vermont Department of Health has worked toward improving the larger built environment, in order to increase access to places to be physically active through supporting municipal level, environmental and policy approaches. This has been done by providing grants and training to community coalitions who were required to build partnerships with local health advocates, residents, and town leaders to work toward improving bicycle and pedestrian facilities, parks, recreation and open space, and support mixed use development (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Recommended Community Strategies to Prevent Obesity in the United States).

Office of Local Health staff have participated in the trainings and as partners in this work. Beginning in state FY2016, funding for all of the community coalitions ended. Many of the Office of Local Health staff will continue this work, as appropriate.

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is a paper survey administered in Vermont middle and high schools every two years since 1993. The survey is sponsored by the Department of Health's Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs, and the Department of Education's Coordinated School Health Programs and the CDC. The YRBS measures the prevalence of behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death, disease, and injury among youth. Vermont surveys over 30,000 students at each administration. Weighted data is compiled to generate a representative state sample, and local data is used by schools, supervisory unions, health programs and other local organizations. The YRBS is completed in over 40 other states and there is a national weighted sample for comparison.

Age adjustment is used for comparison of regions with varying age breakdowns. In order to remain consistent with the methods of comparison at a national level, some statistics in Vermont are age adjusted. In cases where age adjustment was noted as being part of the statistical analysis, the estimates were adjusted based on the proportional age breakdowns of the U.S. population in 2000. For more detailed information on age adjustment visit http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/statnt/statnt20.pdf.

Prevalence and percentages are calculated by using descriptive statistical procedures using software such as SPSS, SAS, and/or SUDAAN. These statistics describe the proportion of individuals with a given trait in the population during a specified period of time.