People can pray to lose weight, but it turns out that more devout religious people often have a higher chance of gaining weight. According to a new study from Northwestern University, young adults who participate in religious activities are fifty percent more likely to become obese by middle age, compared to those with no religious involvement.
People can pray to lose weight, but it turns out that more devout religious people often have a higher chance of gaining weight. According to a new study from Northwestern University, young adults who participate in religious activities are fifty percent more likely to become obese by middle age, compared to those with no religious involvement.
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This is the first longitudinal study ever to analyze the linkage between obesity and various degrees of religious involvement. Previous research from Northwestern established the connection between obesity and religious involvement at a single point in time, whereas the new research tracks the subjects' weight gain over time. This enables the creation of a clear cause and effect. Religious involvement causes obesity and not the other way around.
The study tracked the weights of 2,433 men and women for 18 years. Adjusting for variations in age, race, sex, education, income, and baseline body mass index, the researchers found that young adults who experience a high frequency of religious participation were 50 percent more likely to be obese by middle age. A high frequency was defined as participating in a religious function at least once a week.
"We don't know why frequent religious participation is associated with development of obesity, but the upshot is these findings highlight a group that could benefit from targeted efforts at obesity prevention," said Matthew Feinstein, the study's lead investigator and a fourth-year student at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "It's possible that getting together once a week and associating good works and happiness with eating unhealthy foods could lead to the development of habits that are associated with greater body weight and obesity."
However, the researchers stress that their work does not indicate an overall unhealthiness among the religious population. Previous studies have shown religious people live longer for various reasons such as smoking less.
Their study is being presented at the American Heart Association's Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism/Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention Scientific Sessions 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia.
For more information: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3074015
