Research led by an academic from University College London (UCL) for the World Happiness Report has uncovered that individuals who partake in shared mealtimes are likelier to experience higher life satisfaction and well-being. The third chapter of the report, titled “Sharing Meals with Others”, involved collaboration between researchers from UCL, the University of Oxford, Harvard University, and Gallup. They investigated meal sharing as a significant indicator of self-reported well-being, comparing its impact on income and employment status. The research demonstrates that this correlation spans all demographics, including age, gender, nationality, culture, and region.
The findings highlighted that nations with a culture of frequent shared mealtimes generally report greater life satisfaction. For example, individuals who consistently partake in shared lunches and dinners scored, on average, an additional point on a life evaluation scale ranging from 0 (worst possible life) to 10 (best possible life). This increase is considerable, equating the impact of gaining an extra point in life satisfaction to propelling the UK to the second happiest country globally, trailing only behind Denmark.
The study also revealed that meal-sharing frequency is a robust indicator of life satisfaction and positive emotions, comparable to the significance of one’s income bracket. Understanding a person’s meal-sharing habits can provide deeper insights into their well-being than simply knowing their employment status.
Dr Alberto Prati, a co-author from UCL’s Arts & Humanities faculty, remarked on the novelty and significance of this global analysis of meal-sharing data. He noted the strong link between social connections, facilitated through shared meals, and positive evaluations of life and emotions. Utilising data from the Gallup World Poll, which surveyed over 150,000 individuals about their well-being and meal-sharing habits with acquaintances over the past week, the study encompassed responses from 142 countries during 2022 and 2023.
It found that Latin America and the Caribbean lead in meal-sharing frequency, with individuals sharing meals nearly two-thirds of the time. Western Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand followed this. In contrast, South Asia and East Asia reported lower frequencies of meal sharing.
Focusing on the United States, the researchers used the American Time Use Survey to examine trends in meal sharing and solitary dining from 2003 to 2023. The findings suggest a decline in shared meals, particularly among the youth, which correlates with broader social changes and a decrease in social capital, or the community cohesion and connections that underpin a functional society. Interestingly, the report also noted an increase in Americans dining alone, a trend accentuated by the pandemic’s onset in early 2020, which enforced changes in social behaviours. Notably, older adults and increasingly younger individuals under 35 are opting to eat alone more frequently.
Dr Prati emphasised the practical implications of these findings for policy-making, highlighting the potential of meal-sharing frequency as a valuable yet underexplored metric for comparative social research. This study reinforces the importance of social interactions through shared meals and points to broader social trends and their implications for public policy and societal wellbeing.
More information: Alberto Prati et al, Sharing meals with others. How meal sharing supports happiness and social connections, World Happiness Report. DOI: 10.18724/whr-g119-bv60
Journal information: World Happiness Report Provided by University College London
