Soda Ban Struck Down, but Question of Gov’t Role in Tackling Obesity Remains

In striking down Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ban on the sale of large sugary drinks, New York Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling declared it “arbitrary and capricious,” stating that it didn’t apply fairly to all high-sugar beverages and all types of establishments. The American Beverage Association, which brought the lawsuit against the ban, has called it “unreasonable, unsound, and incongruous.”

Bloomberg disagreed with the court and New York City is seeking to appeal the ruling. The mayor and the city Board of Health feel the ban would go a long way toward reducing obesity.

The crux of the matter is the question of what the proper role is for the government in addressing obesity -- and its various causes.

Soda, which is the focal point of Bloomberg’s ban, is a tough place to start. Nearly half of Americans report that they drink soda daily -- meaning it is popular and has significant industry support and money behind it. But, studies have shown that the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages can contribute to an array of health problems including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. And the size of beverage containers has grown over the years -- going from 20 ounces, which contains about 227 calories, to as large as 64 ounces, which contains more than 700 calories (CDC).

Meanwhile, more than one in four Americans are obese.

The majority of Americans (57%) say it is extremely or very important to have federal government programs that address the health risks associated with obesity. But Gallup has also found that a majority of Americans (54%) believe the government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses. And 47% of Americans believe there is already too much government regulation of business and industry.

Thus, New York City’s attempt to ban the sale of large sugary drinks hits an issue on which Americans are somewhat split.  

While New York City’s mayor tries to implement laws to curb the obesity epidemic, Mississippi has passed an “Anti-Bloomberg” bill that prevents counties, districts, and towns from “enacting rules that limit portion size.”

Although obesity is a growing concern for Americans, the government’s role in preventing and reducing it remains unclear. If New York City’s attempt to ban the sale of large sugary beverages is ultimately successful, it could impact Americans’ opinions on just what the government should or should not do to address the nation’s weight problems. 

Emotions Linked to Health Globally, Especially in Low-GDP Countries

by Shane J. Lopez, Gallup Senior Scientist, and Sarah Pressman, Professor of Psychology at University of California, Irvine

In an article published last week in Psychological Science: A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science, we examined, along with Matt Gallagher, the link between emotions and health in representative samples from 142 countries collected in 2009 through the Gallup World Poll. Gallup surveyed respondents asking whether they experienced positive emotions -- such as happiness, enjoyment, and love -- and negative emotions -- such as sadness, stress, and worry -- a lot of the day “yesterday.” Gallup also asked respondents about their health and their basic access to safety, shelter, and food.

Each of our three major findings was somewhat surprising:

• Positive and negative emotions explain good health. Emotions accounted for nearly half (46.1%) of the variance in self-reported health. 
• The links between self-reported emotions and heath were stronger than the relative impact of hunger, homelessness, and threats to safety on health. 
• The link between positive emotion and health was stronger in low-GDP countries than in high-GDP countries.

Taken together, these results suggest that emotions are an important component of health everywhere. Being sad is not just an inconvenience, but is an important component of physical health that warrants attention from public health officials, the medical community, and social support systems. And being happy is not a frivolous byproduct of a good day. It is an indicator of good health that should be taken seriously.

The relationship between emotions and health around the world cannot simply be explained by a country’s gross domestic product (GDP). In fact, the association between positive emotions and health is even stronger in low-GDP countries than in high-GDP countries.

If we take a look at a graphical representation of the data on positive emotions, health, and GDP, it seems that people in many poor countries are healthier than their country’s wealth might suggest they would be. This is attributable to the role of positive emotions in their lives. Malawians, for example, have a strong connection between the enjoyment and happiness they experienced yesterday and their health. In the United States, the positive relationship between emotions and health is about half as strong as it is in Malawi. The GDP per capita in the U.S. is more than 130 times higher than it is in Malawi, but the strength of the link between positive emotions and health for Malawians washes out most of the health advantage for Americans.

GDP and basic access to food, shelter, and safety matter less to health than people’s day-to-day feelings. Policymakers and health professionals around the world should consider emotions as indicators of physical wellbeing. This emotion-health link may prove to be a reason to measure gross national happiness. Pursuit of high GNH could elevate the health of the world’s citizens.

This Week in Wellbeing: The Engaged Workplace Health Bonus and Gross National Wellbeing

Every week, Gallup.com publishes new wellbeing findings. Here is a roundup of this week's key insights:

• Engaged workers in U.S. report healthier lifestyles: Employees who are engaged in their work and workplace are more likely than those who are not engaged to exercise and eat well. More than half of engaged employees exercise frequently. 
• Gross national wellbeing (GNW) comes before GDP: Gallup surveys from more than 150 countries reveal that how people rate their lives and whether they have a "good job" are two key factors that play into a nation's GNW, which influences its GDP. In the Gallup Business Journal, Jim Clifton explains what leaders worldwide need to know about their citizens' wellbeing.

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This Week in Wellbeing: Flu Frenzy, Superstorm Sadness, Pessimistic Greeks

Every week, Gallup.com publishes new wellbeing findings. Here is a roundup of this week's key insights:

• Worst December for flu on record in U.S.: An average of 3.2% of Americans said they had the flu on any given day in December, more than said so in the same month in any previous December since Gallup started tracking the flu daily in 2008. 
• Residents affected by Superstorm Sandy are more depressed: Residents in ZIP codes most affected by Sandy reported a 25% increase in depression post-storm. 
• Combating Greek pessimism: More than four in 10 Greeks in 2011 expected their lives to get worse -- the highest level of pessimism in any of the 148 countries Gallup surveyed. But Greek leaders can turn things around, according to the Gallup Business Journal, by addressing four basic needs.

To get more wellbeing insights from Gallup as soon as they publish sign up for Gallup News email alerts.

This Week in Wellbeing: GOP Life Ratings Down, Cost of Care, and More

Every week, Gallup.com publishes new wellbeing findings. Here is a roundup of this week's key insights:

• Republicans' life ratings drop dramatically in November: Their 40.3 Life Evaluation Index score is down from 47.0 in October. The gap between Democrats' and Republicans' life ratings is the highest it has ever been at 16.6 points.
• Medical care too pricey for many Americans: Thirty-two percent say they have had to put off medical treatment due to the cost. Of those, 19% report putting off care for a serious medical condition.
• Fewer Americans happy with their healthcare coverage: The 67% who say their coverage is either excellent or good now is down from 72% in 2011.

To get more wellbeing insights from Gallup as soon as they publish sign up for Gallup News email alerts.

The U.S. Military’s Suicide Epidemic: A Crisis of Wellbeing

By Josh McLaughlin, Senior Government Consultant

The suicide rate for active-duty U.S. military personnel is at a record high, with 323 confirmed or suspected so far in 2012 -- that is a rate of more than one per day -- according to the Pentagon. The Army and Navy both already broke their respective annual records, while the Air Force and Marine Corps are not far from surpassing their own.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta described the suicide situation as an “epidemic.” It is. It is also a travesty of epic proportion.

With service members taking their own lives more than the enemies we face abroad do, it is now clearer than ever that military leaders must take action to get to the root of the problem. And they must be more vigilant about preventing suicide by protecting our military’s wellbeing -- all of the time.

I served on active duty in the Army for seven years, deploying overseas on multiple occasions, and have since transferred into the Army Reserve, where I continue to serve this great nation. My father served in the Navy for 24 years. The military has played a pivotal role for me my entire life. I consider this an overall positive.

But also because of this, I have experienced the effects of suicide from multiple vantage points: as a young man attending funerals, or overhearing my parents talk about someone they knew taking their life, and then later as an officer myself. During my time on active duty, I never went a long period of time without hearing about a suicide on my post, or even occasionally within my brigade. With each loss, I remember people always saying how senseless it was, how no one saw it coming, and that the person displayed few, if any, of the high-risk behaviors we now commonly attribute to someone in need of help.

The Department of Defense (DoD) unveiled the Total Force Fitness (TFF) framework in 2010 to attempt to address service member wellbeing. The Army has its own program, the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) program, released in 2009. The CSF program includes the 240-question Global Assessment Tool (GAT), which is administered annually. I took part in CSF and GAT while on active duty. I had my own frustrations with it, while many critics point to an overly lengthy questionnaire and the fact that it only “touches” soldiers once a year. These programs have been in place for several years, but service member suicides continue to trend upward, so it is clear that they are not working in their current state.

What is lacking is a holistic DoD-wide campaign to regularly measure, analyze, and address all aspects of service members’, as well as family members’, wellbeing. To be effective, it must be an integrated and ongoing part of the everyday lives of everyone in the military community, because understanding the core components of a person’s wellbeing is essential to being able to systematically improve that wellbeing.

Gallup knows from research it has conducted over many years throughout the world that there are five universal, interconnected elements of wellbeing that shape each person’s life: Career, Social, Financial, Physical, and Community. All of these need to work together for a person to thrive.

Military leaders need to first gauge how service members fare in each of these areas to even begin to understand why the wellbeing of so many in their ranks is suffering to such a devastating degree. These data, pulled from across the services, will allow key stakeholders (medical professionals, leaders, and policymakers) to tackle the universal problem of suicide throughout the military and to boost the wellbeing of all personnel.

In the military we use data, and lots of it, to inform and advise commanders on what the enemy is up to. We collect and pore over these data in order to make informed recommendations to the commander for how to get ahead of the enemy's OODA (Observe -- Orient -- Decide -- Act) loop. It is time we do the same to combat suicide.

Our soldiers and their families have given so much to this nation; we owe it to them to give them the most effective tools to battle this epidemic.

For more information about Gallup’s wellbeing work, click here.

Americans Exercising More, But Aren’t Breaking Free of Winter Slump

First the good news: In general, Americans are exercising a bit more in 2012 than in past years. In almost every month this year, more Americans reported exercising for at least 30 minutes three or more days per week than did so in the same month each of the past four years.

Now for the bad news: Americans’ exercise habits are falling into the typical cold weather downward spiral. The percentage of adults exercising frequently declined to 51.6% in October, from 54.9% in September -- and down from the 2012 high of 55.3% in July. This seasonal slump happens every year -- including 2012, when Americans appear to be exercising more than ever.

That more Americans are exercising frequently in 2012 is a positive indicator. One that may point to progress, but leaders -- especially those in the workplaces -- should take note of and action on Americans’ winter healthy habit hiatus.

Poor health -- including an unhealthy weight and the related chronic conditions like high blood pressure that can result from a lack of exercise, not to mention over-consumption (cue the office holiday party) -- reduces Americans’ quality of life and costs workplaces billions of dollars. In fact, Gallup has found that unhealthy workers miss an additional 450 million days of work each year compared with healthy workers -- costing the U.S. an estimated $153 billion annually in lost productivity. Healthy employees are less likely to miss work and are more engaged when they are there, which is why it is important for employers to encourage workers to maintain healthy habits, especially over the fall and winter months.

Read more wellbeing news here.

Read more about creating a workplace that is high in wellbeing here.