Wellbeing and the Environment in American Communities

Dan Witters, Gallup

January 25, 2012

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The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index® (U.S.)

Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index Launched January 2, 2008 Outbound phone, multiple call design, all-live interviewers English/Spanish, landline/cell – 98% Coverage of U.S. n=1,000 per night, n=353,000+ per year 1.3+ million completed surveys to date Reporting (n>300) for every Congressional District and

for about 188 metropolitan areas every year Weighted to U.S. Census Bureau Statistics

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Life Evaluation Ranking one’s life today and in the future

Emotional HealthDaily feelings; Clinical depression

Physical HealthChronic conditions, obesity, physical pain, cold/flu

Healthy Behaviors Smoking, healthy eating, exercise

Work Environment Using strengths, supervisor relationships

Basic Access Healthcare, dentistry, safety, money for basic needs

Well-Being Index(average of six sub-indexes)

The Well-Being Index: A Comprehensive Approach

Gallup-Healthways tracks 55 items along with others to provide leaders with a comprehensive metric that covers six key interrelated areas of wellbeing

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What Role Does the Environment Play in Influencing the Emotional and Physical Health of a Community? Sarah Pressman, PhD., University of Kansas Air Pollution, Walkability, Green Space City Data Gathered from:

– Governmental & NGO sources Environmental working group US Census Center for City Park Excellent, Trust for Public Land American Lung Association

– Private Research Websites (e.g., city-data.com, walkscore.com)

Copyright © 2011 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.

Multiple Positive Wellbeing Outcomes Consistently Found in Presence of Healthy Physical Environment

Highly significant relationship between aspects of emotional and physical health and physical environment.

These relationships persist after controlling for size of city, average healthy behaviors of a city, access to medical care, race/ethnicity, and per capita income.

Pressman, University of Kansas

Air Quality

2011American LungAssociation

Worst Cities for All-Year Air Pollution:Bakersfield-Delano, CAVisalia-Porterville, CAPhoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ Los Angeles-Long Beach, CAHanford-Corcoran, CAFresno-Madera, CAPittsburg-New Castle, PA

Best Cities for All-Year Air Pollution:Cheyenne, WY

Santa Fe-Espanola, NMTucson, AZ

Great Falls, MTHonolulu, HI

Anchorage, AKAlbuquerque, NM

Poor Air Quality Matters

Compared to people living in high air quality cities, citizens of cities with poor air quality:– Have more daily stress, worry, anger– Have less daily enjoyment, happiness– Exhibit 38% greater obesity– Exhibit 19% greater hypertension, 15% greater high

cholesterol, and 31% greater diabetes

Pressman, University of Kansas

Top Cities for % of Space:

Anchorage

Albuquerque

San Diego

NYC

DC

Bottom Cities for % of Space:

Honolulu

Stockton

Corpus Christi

Fresno

Tucson

Green Space: The Importance of City Parks

Green Space Matters

Compared to people living in low green space cities, citizens of cities with high green space:– Evaluate their lives better across the board– Have 15% fewer headaches on any given day– Exhibit an 11% reduction in lifetime hypertension– Have experienced 25% fewer heart attacks– Exhibit 10% fewer people that are obese

Pressman, University of Kansas

Walkability: A Tale of Two Cities(San Francisco vs. Jacksonville)

Green = walker’s paradise 90-100

Red= Car Dependent 0-49

Walkscore.com

Walkability Matters

Compared to people living high walkability cities, citizens of cities with low walkability:– Have 12% more headaches on any given day– Exhibit 8% more lifetime hypertension– Have experienced 23% more heart attacks– Exhibit 14% greater obesity– But do have 23% fewer colds on any given day!

Pressman, University of Kansas

Dan WittersPrincipalGallup

Omaha, NE USA402.938.6457

dan_witters@gallup.com

To stay up to date on our wellbeing discoveries, visit the

Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index site:

http://well-beingindex.com/

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