Miami District Ranked Most Unhealthy, Unhappy
District 17 constituents rank dead last in happiness evaluation by Gallup
Gallup poll says District 17 ranks low on their "well being" index.
The unhappiness of Miamians is a big, fat deal, and that's not a good thing, according to a recent poll.
District 17, which includes parts of Miami Gardens, Miami's inner city neighborhoods including Liberty City and parts of southern Broward County, is being called one of the most unhealthy and unhappy districts in the nation, according to a Gallup Healthways poll.
Of 436 Congressional districts in the U.S., the area in northern Miami-Dade County ranks 434th, which angers newly elected district leader U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson.
She said racism was a major contributing factor in the bad health assessment in District 17 because the district doesn't have the access to the resources and funding from the government as others nationwide do.
"It's very devastating news to me," Wilson said after calling a meeting on the issue. "I think it has a lot to do with the economy, it has a lot to do with perception and it has a lot to do with racism. This is a district that 64 percent African American and we are sometimes short changed."
The data from the poll charts the happiness of District 17 in 2010 when former Sen. Kendrick Meek was the elected representative and shows a drastic drop in the happy and healthy feelings of residents.
In the poll's "Life Evaluation" category, which is described as how people feel about their current lot in life and where they see themselves in five years, residents in Miami Gardens rank dead last on the dissatisfied scale after being No. 99 just a year ago.
The district is also low on the emotional health meter (431), their happiness with the job climate (433) and their basic access to health services (430).
District 17 ranked no higher than 284th in any of the other six healthy life indicators.
And when people are sad, they take up bad eating habits, pollsters told the residents Thursday.
The proliferation of fast food restaurants and lack of healthy dining choices in the area also contribute to the unhealthy lifestyle, officials said.
Miami's overall ranking among 188 major cities polled was 129th. Overall, Floridians are on the bottom end when it comes to smiling and rank 37th.
Unhappy days indeed.
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