Research Links Obesity To Religious-media Use

[♦ nivek ♦]

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...ING01/609050314

 

A Purdue University researcher has found a link between obesity and

women who use religious media, as well as Baptists or fundamentalist

Protestants in general.

 

Sociology professor Ken Ferraro said his conclusions suggest

religious leaders and organizations should encourage physical

activity and healthy eating among congregations.

 

"Fundamentalist groups are more prone to an absolutist approach to

things such as smoking and alcohol," said Ferraro. "These groups, by

and large, don't put much attention on (other) issues relating to

physical health."

 

Ferraro analyzed religious practices and body mass index, known as

BMI, of more than 2,500 people from a national sampling taken by the

University of Michigan.

 

He found that women were 14 percent more likely to be obese if they

used religious media resources, including television, radio and

books, three or more times per week. However, the more women attended

religious services, the less prone they were to be obese.

 

Results showed men were much less likely to be obese when they got

counseling and comfort through religious sources, according to

Ferraro, director of Purdue's Center on Aging and the Life Course.

 

The study, published in the June issue of the Journal for the

Scientific Study of Religion, follows research Ferraro published in

1998 showing a link between weight and religious practices. He found

that more obese people lived in states with large populations of

religious affiliations, particularly Baptists.

 

This study tracked people over eight years from 1986 to 1994.

 

Among denominations, the study reaffirms Baptists are most likely to

be obese, regardless of where they live, Ferraro said. The second

highest rate of obesity was among fundamentalist Protestants.

 

The Rev. Roger Kinion of Greenfield Calvary Baptist Church said one

explanation might be that Baptists believe self-value is based on

their relationship to God, rather than other people.

 

"We may not have the same social stigma based on weight that a

non-Christian does," he said. "We are more morally or ethically

focused than we are physically focused."

 

Ferraro said religious organizations could affect the obesity problem

if they would encourage healthy eating.

[Fweethawt]

Hah! It does make sense. Even if only a little.

 

What do you expect by being indoctrinated to sit down, shut up and listen?

 

There's only so much of that one can take before they grab a fuckin' Twinkie™.

[Mr. Neil]

Waitwaitwait... Isn't GLUTTONY a sin? Why do we have all these fatass baptist ministers preachin' the word of THE LAWD with a bible in one hand and a drumstick in the other?!

 

Oh wait. Maybe I'm taking Proverbs 23 OUT OF CONTEXT. Of course, I always forget about that one...