Addison County is one of the healthiest counties in Vermont according to data reported by the County Health Rankings (CHR). Addison is ranked as the number one county in Vermont based on morbidity indicators and number two for mortality. Compared with the national statistics, according to America's Health Rankings (AHR), Vermont is ranked number one for overall health. In premature deaths, it ranks number two; in cardiovascular deaths, number nine. One statistic showing room for improvement is cancer deaths, where it ranks 23rd. In measures of morbidity, Vermont is 1st for lowest rates of infectious disease, 4th lowest rate in diabetes, and in obesity they are 13th lowest.
Addison County is number two in Vermont in Social & Economic Indicators, according to the CHR data. Compared on a national level, Vermont ranks 2nd in high school graduation rate, 15th lowest rate of children living in poverty, 3rd in public health funding, and in insurance coverage they are also 3rd, according to the AHR data.
Excessive drinking is one of the few health behaviors in which Vermont lags behind the national average. According to CHR data, Vermont has an excessive drinking rate of 19% compared with the national benchmark of 8%. According to AHR data, Vermont ranks 27th in measures of binge drinking. While the cold climate is thought to play a role in the problem, an article from the boston.com also discussed the permissive environment on Vermont college campuses that is thought to create unhealthy drinking norms for students (http://www.boston.com/news/education/2012/10/09/colleges-health-dept-tackle-binge-drinking/H9QHX1NwIZdX2HgDXOPflI/story.html).
In most of the Clinical Care indicators measured by CHR, Vermont is very close to the national benchmark. One area for improvement is the ratio of primary care physician per person. Vermont has a ratio of 720:1, compared with the national benchmark of 631:1. According to AHR, Vermont is 4th in primary care physicians per 100,000 population. While is room for improvement in Vermont in terms of reaching the national benchmark, it is clear that the entire country in doing very poorly on this statistic.
Data cited is from the following sites:
http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/
http://www.americashealthrankings.org/
