Dardenne frowns on report calling Louisiana unhappy

Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne says there’s only one possible explanation for the part of a new Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index report that ranks Louisiana among the most unhappy states. “The only explanation for the Gallup poll showing Louisiana as an unhappy state would be if it were conducted the day after the BCS Championship Game,” Dardenne says. “Otherwise, we know Louisianans are among the happiest people in the nation, and we have confidence in the study conducted by the CDC as published by Science.” Dardenne is referring to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in December, which ranked Louisiana No. 1 in happiness among its residents. The CDC study was based on a survey of 1.3 million Americans over a four-year period that asked how satisfied they were with their lives. Louisiana took top ranking, over Hawaii and Florida, in the study. To be fair, ranking resident happiness is just a small part of the The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, which ranks Louisiana No. 36 among U.S. states for overall health of its residents. As part of the index, a map claiming to chart the levels of happiness by state was included. On it, Louisiana is a pale shade of pea green, signifying it’s in the “lower range” of happiness. That’s the lowest ranking according to the map, which divides the states into a “lower range,” “midrange” and “higher range.” You can check out the map and a related article about it from The Atlantic here.