Celebrating Healthy West Virginia

A variety of vegetables on display at a market.

West Virginia has developed a reputation for having some of the highest rates of obesity and smoking in the nation. Chronic conditions such as heart disease, cancer, stroke and Type 2 diabetes are major causes of death and disabilities in West Virginia. A significant proportion of these conditions are preventable.

Despite this, there are many cities, towns and counties that have been creating policies, programs, community-clinical linkages and systemic changes in the hopes of creating a healthier environment where their citizens can thrive.

The Celebrating Healthy West Virginia Award is a statewide recognition program that highlights communities for their contributions to improving nutrition, exercise and tobacco restrictions. The WVPRC collaborated with the Bureau of Public Health to evaluate communities based on their achievement of benchmarks related to nutrition, exercise and tobacco regulations. Communities can earn a platinum, gold, silver or bronze award depending on how many benchmarks they achieve and the size of their community.

Upon evaluation of the applications, eligible communities will receive signage and other materials to display. The goal of the project is to increase recognition of these communities that are making changes towards becoming a healthy community. Increasing the visibility of these efforts can increase awareness as well as inspire a similar change in communities. This project affects all of the communities that have applied for the Celebrating Healthy West Virginia Award, as well as the residents of those communities.

Learn more about the Celebrating Healthy West Virginia recognition program.