Defining and measuring human well-being in a way that is as inclusive, shared, and reflective of the complexity of reality as possible is not only a fascinating challenge for social science scholars, but also a crucial step forward in shaping better political and economic decision-making practices and, perhaps in the long term, a better world.
In Measuring People’s Well-Being: the BCNF Index, the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition contributes to the ongoing debate on well-being indicators with an innovative and specific input focused on dietary choices and lifestyles. This is a work in progress, the results of which complement official institutional statistics, integrating objective measurement factors with those more subjective and elusive aspects of perceived well-being.
The document presents a “ranking” of the BCNF Index, which shows the final outcome of the comparison among ten selected countries based on different dimensions of well-being.


1. Well-being and how to measure it

2. The BCNF approach to this issue

3. BCNF Index
3.1 Methodology

3.2 Lifestyle sub-index 3.2.1 Psycho-physical well-being 3.2.2 Behavioral well-being 3.2.3 Summary results of the Lifestyle sub-index

3.3 Other components of the BCNF Index 3.3.1 Wealth and Sustainability sub-index
3.3.1 Wealth and Sustainability sub-index
Material well-being
Environmental well-being
Summary results of the Wealth and Sustainability sub-index

3.3.2 Social and Interpersonal sub-index
Educational well-being
Social well-being
Political well-being
Summary results of the Social and Interpersonal sub-index

3.4 The BCNF Index: main evidence

4. Conclusions and next steps

Bibliography

Statistical appendix

Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition