[acb-hsp] Apalachia

[peter altschul]

Where Are the Country's Least Happy and Healthy Americans? New 
Studies Reveal America's "Sadness Belt"
  Melanie Foley March 28, 2013
  Gallup and Healthways recently released their annual Well-Being 
Index for 2012, and Appalachia was found once again to be home to 
some of the least healthy and happy Americans.  The most striking 
result of last year's Well-Being Index is that while the happiest 
states are spread throughout the country, the lowest ranking 
states are all clustered in Central and Southern Appalachia, and 
the region's neighboring states.
  The Well-Being Index compiles surveys taken from all over the 
country all throughout the year and organizes them by state, 
community and congressional district.  Participants are asked to 
evaluate their lives according to six categories:
  *- Life Evaluationccinin how a person's current life compares 
with their expectations
  *- Emotional Healthccinin deals with the respondent's 
experiences and feelings on a given day
  *- Physical Health: ininencompasses diseases, physical pain, 
sick days, body-mass index, etc.
  *- Healthy Behavior: ininaddresses both positive behaviors 
(i.e.  exercise) and negative (i.e.  smoking)
  *- Work Environment: ininquestions for workers on job 
satisfaction, treatment from superiors, etc.
  *- Basic Accessccinin includes access to food, housing, 
healthcare, etc.
  West Virginia (50) and Kentucky (49) once again brought up the 
rear as the saddest two states for the fourth year in a row.  
Tennessee slid down a few pegs from its spot last year, joining 
its fellow Appalachian states at number 47.  As a whole, Virginia 
did quite well.  But the state's congressional district data 
indicates a major well-being disparity.  The 9th District of 
Virginia, shown in parentheses above, ranks 321st in well-being 
out of 436 congressional districts.  Respondents from this 
southwestern Virginia district have more in common with their 
Appalachian neighbors than with affluent northern Virginians.
  When people hear there is a state-by-state report on happiness, 
they want to know a few things.  Who's number one? It's Hawaii.  
Who changed the most since last year? Alaska took a turn for the 
worse, and Delaware improved significantly.  How did my state do? 
You can find out here.  But anyone who looks at the map above is 
likely to wonder: why is that cluster of red states so unhappy?
  Gallup and Healthways do not offer specific explanations for 
their results, but it is easy to see how a poor score in one 
category might correlate with others.  Poor access to quality 
food and healthcare, for example, could lead to poor physical or 
emotional health.  One Healthways researcher suggested lifestyle 
choices as a contributing factor, emphasizing the likelihood that 
different categories contribute to and compound on one another.  
Many potential explanations boil down to a lack of adequate 
resources.
  A couple of weeks ago at Mountain Justice Spring Break, I met a 
woman from the town of Appalachia in southwest Virginia.  She 
told me about the heyday of her town, when you had to walk in the 
street because the sidewalks were so packed with people going out 
to dinner or shopping or to the movies.  Her descriptions were 
nothing like the ghost town surrounding me.  The coal had run 
out, the mining companies had moved on, the shops had closed up, 
and most of the people had moved away.  All that was left behind 
was the pollution and memories of a better time.  The same has 
happened all over the Appalachian region -- and it is still 
happening today, as more mountain communities are destroyed for a 
short-term payoff.
  These poll results are just the latest reminder that the 
region's long-standing, intractable economic difficulties have 
not been resolved.  The most recent issue of The Appalachian 
Voice points out that half a century has passed since the 
creation of the Appalachian Regional Commission, but political 
and economic problems in the area still persist.  It was in 1964 
that President Lyndon B.  Johnson lamented that "Appalachia 
missed out on the abundance which has been granted to the rest of 
the nation." The same could easily be said today.