There has been a recent news story about the curious fact that countries where chocolate consumption is high tend to produce more Nobel prizewinners. The correlation was quite stark. Are there any reasons why this could be the case, including statistical anomalies not directly related to chocolate? Ironically, my country, Sweden, home of the Nobels, was one of the very few that didn鈥檛 fit the pattern.
鈥� Rich Western countries tend to have a history of academic success, as shown by the number of Nobel prizewinners they produce. They also have a high consumption of foods that are considered to be less healthy, including chocolate. Sweden, as your correspondent states, does not exhibit this association.
鈥淲estern countries have a high consumption offood that is considered to be less healthy鈥�
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By examining international obesity league tables, we can see that Sweden ranks fairly low for a Western nation, suggesting that it has taken on board health messages regarding diet. Other rich countries with an academic pedigree, such as the UK, the US, Canada and Australia, have not.
In the 1980s, Sweden reacted to high cardiovascular disease by introducing an official food-labelling system and a programme of health screening and counselling. This programme was reported by participants to be influential in supporting lifestyle change. The food labelling brought about a significant increase in the sales of low-fat products. It is a reasonable hypothesis that the actions of the Swedish government have caused the non-correlation between chocolate consumption and the number of Swedish Nobel prizewinners. The message should be obvious to us all.
An alternative hypothesis could be that non-Swedish academics consume massive amounts of chocolate.
David Muir, Science department, Portobello High School, Edinburgh, UK
鈥� Correlation need not imply causation. However, correlated independent effects commonly have related causes, and the failure of some countries to fit the pattern suggests that this correlation is an example. Although I鈥檓 not a true chocoholic, I would love there to be a causative connection, but my own suspicion is that many of the achievements awarded Nobel prizes were nurtured in environments that rarely occur in nations lacking luxuries such as good nutrition, good health, good education, hubris, enterprise and being able to afford lots of good chocolate. As said: 鈥淲e owe something to extravagance, for thrift and adventure seldom go hand in hand.鈥�
鈥淲e owe something to extravagance, for thrift and adventure seldom go hand in hand鈥�
Jon Richfield, Somerset West, South Africa
鈥� It cannot be true that the amount of chocolate consumed increases your chances of winning, because women have taken just 5 per cent of the Nobel prizes awarded. One need not accept the sweeping generalisation from the media machine, which would have us believe that women love chocolate more than men do, but it is probably fair to say that women and men enjoy chocolate in roughly equal numbers.