According to data released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development may indicate that the answer is yes. “The relationship is not perfect, but it is persistent,” The New York Times reports:
To no one’s surprise, France followed the most leisurely schedule of dining; those surveyed reported they spent an average of 135 minutes each day. The fastest eaters were in North America; the United States, Canada and Mexico were the only three nations to report fewer than 75 minutes a day devoted to eating and drinking.
As the accompanying chart shows, the 10 countries where people spend less than 100 minutes eating and drinking each day have, as a group, consistently shown higher economic growth than those that took more than 100 minutes to savor their daily repasts.
(Click to enlarge)
But of course, correlation does not prove causation:
There are cultural factors at work, and the picture could change if there were data from more countries. Certainly eating habits alone do not determine economic growth.
Even if there is a relationship, it is not obvious which is cause and which effect. Do people spend more time eating because they have less to do in economies that are not growing? Or do economies stumble because people are savoring a glass of wine when they should be working?
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