Well, well, well — turns out Hoosiers are not as healthy, happy or prosperous as a lot of folks in other states — at least according to a recent Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, but the view on the ground is a bit more optimistic — at least in Lake County.
Indiana ranks 46th out of 50 in the 2015 State Well-Being Rankings with a score of 60.5.
Apparently 100 is a pretty high bar, because sunny Hawaii and frosty Alaska are in first and second place with scores of 64.8 and 64.1 respectively, which surprised Speros Batistatos, president and chief executive officer South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority. Indiana and Ohio tied with 60.5 putting them in the bottom five of all states.
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“My question for Hawaii: How come you are only at 64 points?” asked Batistatos.
Batistatos said the executive summary of the Well-Being Index did not offer him much insight into the Hoosier mindset and he would need the demographic breakdown by age and income for a true understanding. He did notice that most of the Midwest states had similar scores to Indiana.
“Living in Hawaii or in Alaska can be breathtaking, but at what tradeoff? You can’t be much further from the mainland. Our trade-off is we get to stay closer to our families. We sacrifice some of the natural beauty that Wyoming (ranked No. 5 at 63.5) has, but I would rather be with my family in the place I grew up,” Batistatos said.
“It would not be surprising if they (Hoosiers) are feeling more uncertainty or less healthy and fit,” Batistatos said. “If you would have called the average Region resident, they are expressing some concern about steel and wish there were another 10 hours in the day so they can work out more. But we are doing a lot of things very well in Indiana. We enjoy a great quality of life from art to culture to family.”
But maybe the tide is turning — at least near Lake Michigan.
“I know this region has been doing a better job of providing well-being,” said Tabby Bukowski, a bartender at Johnny’s Tap in Munster.
Bukowski grew up in Mokena, Ill., and lives in Lansing, Ill., but looks forward to resettling across the state line when she can. “There are more farmers’ markets and fruit stands. The parks department is pushing yoga classes. I feel the area is starting to grasp this,” she said. “There are more opportunities than there were five or six years ago. The organic sections at grocery stores are getting bigger — especially with the grocery stores remodeling — there are aisles and aisles of fresh and organic food. Almost every grocery store in the area has been doing renovations.”
She said she went to one local grocer after it remodeled and “almost felt under-dressed.”
She said she’s been paying more attention to her own food choices in the last few years. And so has the state.
The Indiana adult obesity rate is 32.7 percent, according to the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
To help provide access to fresh food for people of all incomes, the state aims to license local farmers markets to accept SNAP benefits. Licensed local businesses include the Miller Beach Farmers Market and Munster Farmers Market. Direct marketing farmers, Remus Farms and Scheeringa Farms & Produce, are also licensed.
If Gallup had talked to Meg Roman, executive director of the Miller Beach Arts & Creative District, she might have told the surveyor a thing or two about community pride. Roman has lived in a dozen different places, but ultimately returned to her hometown to be near her parents in the Miller section of Gary.
“The people are what make Miller — those who have chosen to stay or to come back,” she said. “We recognize Gary does not have unlimited funds, so people do it themselves. That’s what most people don’t realize. A lot of things are being done by volunteers (such as) the flower planters on Lake Street and around the train station and at the intersection of Shelby and Oak, which is done exclusively by volunteers from the Miller Garden Club. … Miller has always been a do-it-yourself community.”
Bukowski gets it.
“I grew up in Mokena and that was everything in that town. My mom served on the Welcome Committee and I helped her with that,” she said. “I see the connections. The sense of community is so strong. Ninety percent of the people (at Johnny’s Tap) are regulars and they would give you the shirt off their back. Helping members of the community is important and I get to see it first-hand around here.”
Nancy Coltun Webster is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
About the survey:
The rankings are based on Gallup’s 177,000 interviews with U.S. adults 18 and older in 50 states and Washington, D.C., January through December 2015.
The interviews result in the Gallup-Well-Being Index score with a scale of 0 to 100 and 100 is the highest possible well-being. There are five categories of well-being: “Purpose or liking what you do each day and motivated to achieve your goals; Social or having supportive relationships and love; Financial or managing your economic life to reduce stress and increase security; Community or liking where you live and feeling safe and having pride in your community; Physical or having good health and enough energy to get things done daily.”
Bottom five:
Rounding out the listing, Indiana and Ohio tied at 60.5. Below those two states were Oklahoma at 60.4, Kentucky at 60.3 and, for the seventh consecutive year, West Virginia at 58.5.
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