The first global study reveals a direct correlation between food and wellbeing
The Ando Foundation and Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd. released the Recipes for Wellbeing Report, in cooperation with global analytics and advice firm Gallup, the first global study offering a fresh perspective on the food-wellbeing connection.
The Foundation was established in 1983 by Momofuku Ando, the founder of Nissin Food Products, with the belief that “food and sports are the two wheels that support health.”
Gross domestic product (GDP) has long been used as an indicator to measure the scale of a country’s economy. However, in recent years, the idea of constructing an alternative measure of economic prosperity to GDP (Beyond GDP) has become widespread, and well-being, the state of mental, physical, and social contentment of an individual, has been drawing particular attention.
Furthermore, the “Summit of the Future,” to be held at the United Nations in September 2024, will focus on building an economy and society with an emphasis on well-being, and nations worldwide, including Japan, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, are attempting to measure wellbeing and apply this valuable insight to their policies.
Although it is taken for granted that food is the foundation of health, it is not considered a component of well-being. Therefore, the Foundation and the Company, together with Gallup, conducted a study to test the hypothesis that food is an important component of well-being.
The Recipes for Wellbeing Report found that those who were “completely satisfied” with their diet were 1.62 times more likely to have higher subjective well-being than those who were not “completely satisfied” and that food is an important component of well-being along with income. This is the first study in the world that proved there was a strong correlation between food and well-being.
Based on the results of this newly released study, the Foundation and the Company will continue to explore how food can improve wellbeing in collaboration with researchers from universities and international organisations.
