[V]ermont’s top doctors want people to eat right, exercise and refrain from smoking, and the state’s chronic disease team has launched a new data-driven campaign to show people why they’re right.
The Vermont Department of Health announced the results of a data analysis at a news conference Tuesday showing that three behavioral factors can lead to four chronic diseases that are responsible for more than 50 percent of deaths in Vermont.
The campaign is called 3-4-50 Vermont. The department has unveiled data-based research showing that smoking, not exercising and not eating right can lead to cancer, diabetes, heart disease and lung disease.
The department has also unveiled research showing that being part of a certain population, such as having a low income, a disability or depression, is linked to unhealthy behaviors and therefore chronic diseases.
Dr. Harry Chen, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health, called chronic disease an epidemic and urged the state to address it. “This is an epidemic that is within our power to stop, an epidemic that can be reversed now and prevented in the future,” he said.
Chen said 1 in 4 Vermonters have one or more of the four diseases. He said the No. 1 cause of death in Vermont is cancer. Nationally, the leading cause of death is heart disease.
Chen said people can prevent the diseases with the right behavioral changes, but factors such as education, income, cultural norms and inconvenience all play a role in whether people make the right decisions.
“We need an all-in commitment from across the state,” he said. “How can your organization, school, business or town contribute to 3-4-50? This is my call to action to you all today.”
Don George, the chief executive officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, said chronic conditions in general cause more than 70 percent of deaths nationwide, many of which are “very premature,” and account for 80 percent of health care spending.
He pointed to a program Blue Cross created, called Accountable Blue, in which companies work with the insurer to keep employees healthy. He said the program started in 2012 with a handful of customers and has increased to about 40.
“Over the past four years, our Accountable Blue groups will experience health care cost increases that are on average 20 percent less than the average Vermont business,” George said.
“We absolutely intend to expand it to all of those organizations that are willing to make the commitment to us to put health, wellness at the heart of (their workplace) culture,” George said.
Other presenters at the news conference highlighted how hospitals can work with schools to keep kids healthy, how well-planned and walkable cities can encourage exercise, and how educators can take small steps to keep kids healthy.
“There’s a bunch of strategies that don’t cost money, but it does mean you need to change some habits and you need to get your bottom out of the chair,” said Ken Page, executive director of the Vermont Principals Association.
