The South and Midwest aren’t doing as well as the rest of thecountry — at least, according to the most recent edition of theGallup-Healthways well-being index.

In its report on the index, Gallup and Healthways examinedwell-being across the country, looking at suchfactors as how well-being varies by state and which states dobetter or worse in each of the five elements of well-being:purpose, social, financial, community andphysical.

There has been some improvement in specific areas, such ashistorically low smoking rates, which have fallen from more than21.1 percent at the index’s inception in 2008 to 18.0 percent;historically high rates of exercise; and the highest scores onhealth care access measures, including health insurancecoverage.

In fact, with the greatest number of Americans covered by healthinsurance and visiting the dentist, Americans are also reportingthe lowest rates of health care insecurity since 2008, as measuredby not being able to afford health care once in the last 12months.

However, all is not well with well-being. Not only have obesity,diabetes and depression rates climbed to their highest levels sincethe study began in 2008 (to 28.4 percent, 11.6 percent and 17.8percent, respectively), the percentage of Americans who reporthealthy eating all day during the previous dayis at a nine-year low.

In addition, different parts of the country are in differentplaces, literally, when it comes to well-being. Regional patternsinclude generally higher levels of well-being in the northernplains states, the Mountain West and some Atlantic states, whilestates in the South and Midwest “consistently lag in key well-beingelements.”

Alaska and Hawaii, separated from the rest of the countrygeographically, have historically recorded high well-being, whileWest Virginia and Kentucky have recorded the lowest well-being inthe nation for the past eight years in a row.

Overall, well-being has risen, with 55.4 percent of Americanadults “thriving,” compared to 48.9 percent in 2008. However, whenone remembers that’s just a little more than half, it’s not exactlya glowing recommendation for the state of the country’sresidents.

Employers that wish to foster a culture of well-being, thereport says, “need to think about work experience from the employeepoint of view and consider how policies, structures and workplaceculture affect employee well-being.”

It continues, “To that point, managers play a vital role in bothemployee engagement and well-being. Gallup research shows managersinfluence 70 percent of their team’s engagement, and engagedworkers are 28 percent more likely to participate in a wellnessprogram.”