County high in healthy living

wise crowded areas of the county.

Deputy Health Officer for Howard County Antigone Vickery said while the department is pleased by the county’s high ranking, it is consistently working to roll out new programs that tackle some of the community’s pressing health needs, one of the most serious being the opioid crisis.

This month the department is launching a “guiding good choices” program for parents to help steer children away from substance abuse; this summer it will launch a holistic pain management program.

Another area in which Vernick said she’d like to see improvement is easy access to physical exercise throughout the county, including greater investment in the county’s fledgling bike path network. Use of the network, she said, could be a way to bring down the county’s 23 percent adult obesity rate; Montgomery County’s is 21percent.

When comparing Howard County to counties nationwide, Vernick said the county isn’t at the forefront of community health.

“We need to be looking at health in all policies, in transportation, housing,” she said.

“We need to be looking at ways to design a community that promotes walking and biking, looking at waysto think about our healthy food access.” [e-mail]