"We saw moderate to significant declines in all but one of the sub-indices that comprise the Well-Being Index," said Jim Pope, M.D., Healthways chief science officer. "As anticipated, the greatest decline was reflected in the Life Evaluation sub-index, but the trend that may be of most long-term concern was the decrease in Healthy Behaviors."
Specifically, the Healthy Behavior sub-index score dropped more than 5.3 points between May and December, an 8.2 percent decrease, the second biggest decline of all the sub-indices.
"This is a finding we’re going to have to watch carefully to see if it’s a seasonal effect, perhaps related to the holidays and winter weather, or the beginning of a longer term trend tied to the economic situation," said Virginia Gurley, M.D., M.P.H., Healthways vice president of value and outcomes research. "Diet and exercise directly affect health and overall well-being, which in turn directly affect both the hard dollar and productivity-related costs of health care. Americans in general are unhealthy enough. If healthy behaviors continue to decline, the trend could carry a monumental price tag."
Gallup and Healthways first reported a falling trend in well-being in the U.S. on August 21, with data drawn from the Life Evaluation sub-index, which subdivides the population into three areas: Thriving, Struggling, or Suffering.
In February, 50.7 percent of Americans were Thriving and hopeful about their prospects for the future. By November, that number had dropped to 37.4, a decline of 26.0 percent. Conversely, the percentage of those Struggling reached a low of 46.0 in February but increased to 58.3 by November, a 26.7 percent rise. The 12.3 point swing in Struggling Americans represents a negative life change for 27.6 million people. In the third category, 3.3 percent of people were Suffering in February, but by June, that number had increased by 51.5 percent to 5.0, the yearly high. The percentage of Sufferers then moderated as the year went on.
The shift in Struggling affected people at all income levels, but was particularly apparent among working individuals aged 35 years and older with children. The data also suggests that people experienced the economic turbulence in a deeply personal way. The change in percent Struggling is highly associated with how people view their personal standard of living and their individual outlook for the future, rather than how they view the economy in general.
"The nation’s mood dropped in aggregate as the year progressed," said Jim Harter, Ph.D, Gallup chief researcher. "Even weekends got a bit worse, on average. During the first three months of 2008, approximately half of people reported a lot of happiness and enjoyment without a lot of stress and worry. That number dropped to just 44.0 percent during a typical day in the first half of December. That means more than 11 million people had worse daily moods later in the year. The largest aggregate declines in mood occurred starting in September, when both the effects of the economic crisis and acute illness both started to increase."
