Hawaii named happiest US state for third year in a row

Washington, Feb 29 (ANI): Hawaii has been found to be the American state with the highest overall well being for three consecutive years.

According to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, the state received a score of 70.2 out of 100.

The results are based on daily telephone surveys conducted from January through December 2011. A random sampling of over 350,000 adults were asked questions about their well-being, including present satisfaction as well as what they anticipate things will be like in five years.

Hawaiians were most likely to say they smiled or laughed a lot "yesterday" and the least likely to report daily worry or stress and to ever have been diagnosed with depression.

According to HealthPop, in terms of physical health, Hawaiians' good eating and exercise habits and lower smoking rates earned them the top spot for healthy behaviours in the nation, CBS News reported.

America's overall Well-Being Index score declined to 66.2 in 2011 from 66.8 in 2010, and was the lowest score recorded since tracking began in 2008.

According to Gallup, the decrease is due to small declines in each of the six sub-indexes that comprise the Well-Being Index: life evaluation, emotional health, work environment, physical health, healthy behaviours, and basic access. State-level data remained fairly unchanged, however.

The poll found the highest well-being among residents in Western and Midwestern states and the lowest well-being in Southern states. (ANI)