Decorah named a "Blue Zone" community

Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Healthways announced Tuesday that Decorah has been named a Blue Zones Project demonstration site. 

Decorah joins eight other communities with populations of less than 10,000 people to be named Blue Zone communities--Algona, Audubon, Fairfield, Harlan, Osage, Red Oak, Spirit Lake and Woodbine.  These communities join Cedar Falls, Mason City, Spencer and Waterloo, which were named in May as the first Blue Zones Project™ demonstration site communities in Iowa with populations greater than 10,000 citizens.

The Blue Zones Project is based on Blue Zones principles developed by Dan Buettner and is the centerpiece of the Healthiest State Initiative to make Iowa the healthiest state by 2016 as measured by the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index®, the first-ever daily assessment of U.S. residents' health and well-being.

Blue Zones Project employs evidence-based ways to help people live longer, better lives by taking a systematic, environmental approach to well-being, which focuses on optimizing policy, social networks, and the built environments where we spend our time.