Emotionally stable? Physically fit? Happy at work?
A new poll released by Gallup suggests people living in Santa Barbara County are more likely to answer “yes” to all those questions than people living in most other areas across the nation.
The Gallup-Healthways Life Evaluation Index poll has ranked the Santa Barbara/Santa Maria/Goleta area No. 6 among medium- and small-sized metropolitan areas with residents with the highest level of “well-being.” Nearby San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles are grouped at No. 16. Topping the list are Boulder, Colo.; Holland/Grand Haven, Mich.; and Honolulu, Hawaii.
The results are based on telephone interviews in which participants were asked to rate the present and future lives on a scale of 0 to 10. Some of the components evaluated included emotional health; work environment and job satisfaction; level of physical fitness; healthy habits; and accessibility of such amenities as clean water, medicine, food, shelter, and healthcare. More than 353,000 American adults participated in the poll.
This article appears in Feb 25 – Mar 4, 2010.