Everybody, including people with disabilities, needs physical activity for good health. However, as of 2019, 48% of Vermonters with a disability did not meet the aerobic physical activity guidelines, compared to 35% of Vermonters without a disability. The Healthy Vermonters 2020 target for adults in Vermont meeting the national physical activity guidelines is 65%.

Regular physical activity helps improve overall health and fitness, reduces the risk of many chronic diseases and may contribute to brain health. It is recommended that people get 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week. When adults with disabilities are not able to meet the guidelines, they should engage in regular physical activity according to their abilities and should avoid being inactive. Moderate physical activities include, but are not limited to: biking slowly, canoeing, ballroom dancing, gardening, using a manual wheelchair, arm cycling, walking briskly, and water aerobics. Examples of vigorous activities are: wheelchair basketball, running or hand crank bicycling on hills, soccer, and swimming laps or other aquatic therapy.

Being physically active has many benefits and is one of the most important things people of all abilities can do to improve their health. Regular physical activity can reduce the burden of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers, and can prevent early death. Physical activity can also help people with chronic diseases manage their conditions. Physical activity has other health benefits, too. It can help people manage weight and prevent falls. Physical activity can even reduce depression and may improve cognitive abilities.

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd Edition, any amount of physical activity is beneficial. Ideally, though, adults should do at least 2½ hours of moderate-intensity physical activity (like walking), 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity, or a combination each week.

This indicator is part of Healthy Vermonters 2020 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.

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. Furthermore, the SHIP highlights Vermonters with disabilities as a priority population due to the significant health disparities experienced by this group of people. The SHIP is a subset of HV2020 and details strategies and planned interventions.

• Vermont Department of Health, Offices of Local Health: Promotes physical activity through community-based work.
• CDC, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities:  Builds on our understanding of developmental disabilities and improves the health of people living with disabilities. 
• Special Olympics Vermont:  Advises on the health status and needs of participating athletes with intellectual disabilities.
• Brain Injury Association of Vermont:  Advises on unique needs of individuals who have brain injuries.
• Green Mountain Self-Advocates:  Promotes the self-empowerment of individuals with developmental disabilities and educates on the strengths and needs of individuals with developmental disabilities.
• Vermont Agency of Transportation: Provides funding and technical assistance for bike and pedestrian projects.
• Agency of Commerce and Community Development : Provides funding and technical assistance to communities regarding planning tools and activities that support active transportation.
• AARP-VT : Livable Communities program helps ensure safe places for all to be physically active.
• Regional Planning Commissions and municipal planners and officials (parks and recreation, public works, select boards): Supports planning and development in communities that promotes physical activity.
• Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports: Promotion and small grants to encourage Vermonters to be active.
• Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation: Promotes use of Vermont’s forests and state parks for recreation.
• Healthcare providers: Encourages patients to be physically active.
• Worksites: Provides opportunities for physical activity during the work day, including flex-time and onsite physical activity opportunities.

According to the Guide to Community Preventive Services, behavior change programs, social supports, community-wide informational campaigns, and environmental and policy approaches, are all recommended for increasing rates of physical activity. This may include educating individuals about the benefits of physical activity, local opportunities to engage in physical activity, and strategies to incorporate physical activity into their daily routines. Messaging can be developed and promoted cross sectors to support and encourage physical activity. The built environment can also be strategically designed to provide safe, accessible places for people to be active. This can include the use of universal design principles, compliance with ADA regulations, and inclusive community design practices to ensure the built environment and opportunities to engage in physical activity are accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities (such as sidewalks, parks, bike lanes, etc.). Each of these alone is effective, however, implementing several or all would provide additional benefit.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also outlines a number of ways adults can increase their levels of physical activity:  Individuals can make a commitment to be more active alone, with friends, family members, co-workers; employers can offer opportunities for employees to be more active during the work day; state and local governments can create walk and bike friendly communities; the federal government can implement polices to make physical activity accessible for everyone.

The Vermont Department of Health works with partners to support municipal level, environmental and policy approaches to improve access to places to be physically active. State partners (listed above) have developed and offered training and other resources (grant funding, toolkits, fact sheets) to community coalitions and municipal and regional planners on ways to improve bicycle and pedestrian facilities; parks, recreation and open spaces; 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 are available to support local partners with this work. In addition, the Health Department leads a Worksite Wellness program that includes a focus on helping workplaces develop and implement policies, systems and environmental strategies to support employee physical activity. The State has developed a toolkit for worksites, provides grants, technical assistance and support to worksites (through the Offices of Local Health) and, with partners, hosts an annual conference to recognize workplace wellness programs and provide training to over 500 worksite wellness professionals.

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

Vermont tracks risk behaviors and chronic disease using a telephone survey of adults called the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS). Vermont participates in the BRFSS with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/brfss). The results are weighted to represent the adult population (18 or older) of the state.

As of 2019, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) adults with any disability definition includes anyone who reports serious difficulty seeing, hearing, walking or climbing stairs, dressing or bathing, concentrating or making decisions, or who, because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition has difficulty doing errands alone. For additional information on the questions used to collect these data please refer to the Health of Vermonters Living with Disabilities. Every four years (previously every two years) the BRFSS includes questions about physical activity, including how often and the intensity people are physically active in an average week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that U.S. adults engage in at least 150-minutes of moderate or 75-minutes of vigorous activity, these breakpoints therefore are used to generate data on whether aerobic physical activity guidelines have been met or not.