High unemployment, poor access to basic necessities such as food, shelter, and medicine, and rising obesity rates continue to plague many of America's Southern states, according to the latest Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.
The Index looks at six categories: basic access, life evaluation, emotional health, work environment, healthy behaviors, and physical health (we've highlighted a few in the following slides).
In general, state-level scores remained consistent with the past five years of data. Western and Midwestern states ranked highest on the wellbeing index, with Hawaii topping the list, and Southern states ranked near the bottom.
#10 (tie) Nevada
2011 Rank: #40
Life Evaluation: #48
Emotional Health:#19
Physical Health: #32
Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Green represents states in the top quintile, blue is second, purple is third, orange is fourth, and red is fifth (bottom).
Gallup's rankings are based on daily interviews with more than 350,000 American adults from January to December 2012.
#10 (tie) Oklahoma
2011 Rank: #39
Life Evaluation: #40
Emotional Health:#39
Physical Health: #8
Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Green represents states in the top quintile, blue is second, purple is third, orange is fourth, and red is fifth (bottom).
Gallup's rankings are based on daily interviews with more than 350,000 American adults from January to December 2012.
#10 (tie) South Carolina
2011 Rank: #33
Life Evaluation: #30
Emotional Health:#27
Physical Health:#46
Source: Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index. Green represents states in the top quintile, blue is second, purple is third, orange is fourth, and red is fifth (bottom).
Gallup's rankings are based on daily interviews with more than 350,000 American adults from January to December 2012.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider