[Vision2020] God & Fat

[Art Deco]

New Study Links Religion and Obesity
March 26, 2011 06:45 PM EDT
© 2011 by Caitlin Seida 
1 person recommends this Tags: news, religion and obesity, study, health, faith, fat, america, matthew feinstein, few extra pounds, spiritual 

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Should attending church come with a warning from the Surgeon General? A recent study conducted at Northwestern University thinks to seem so. The study, which links religion and obesity, found that individuals who participated in at least one organized religious activity per week were 50 percent more likely to be obese than their secular counterparts.

Why is there a startling correlation between spirituality and packing on a few extra pounds? ABC News reports that the study's lead investigator, Matthew Feinstein, isn't sure. Feinstein posits several theories to explain the results, including the social atmosphere provided by church activities. Is it possible, though, that the focus placed on the afterlife by religious figures is another factor? By focusing on the hereafter and not the here and now, religious individuals may be setting themselves up to visit the great treadmill in the sky sooner than they should.

The Chicago Sun Times reports that of the 2,000 plus individuals the study followed, most of them were Christian. Would a wider study show different results if it tracked the waistlines of those from other mainstream faiths, such as Judaism, Islam and Buddhism? One can only speculate.

Despite the bad news linking religion and obesity, the lead author of the study remains optimistic. MSNBC mentions other studies in which those of faith were less likely to smoke, more likely to live longer and less likely to suffer from mental health issues. Could the same infrastructure that's leading to these benefits ultimately be responsible for the increased poundage of America's faithful? When faced with the choice of an unhealthy stress relieving activity that is forbidden by the church (such as smoking) and an unhealthy stress reliving activity condoned or even encouraged by the church (over eating), those of faith are surely more likely to reach for a Twinkie than a Marlboro.




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Comments: 3 
             
           Franklin Newman Mar 26, 2011, 7:20pm EDT 
                  I've often thought going to church was hazardous to one's mental health. Now I have reason to believe it's hazardous to one's physical health, too.  
           
     


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