Religion Correlation between obesity and religiosity

In the USA, fundamentalist Christians and most people who consider themselves very religious tend to reject many biological facts (evolution of species, existence of genetic predispositions, genetics playing a major role in intelligence or temperament, etc.). I was wondering if this ignorance would lead them to make detrimental choices about their health and lifestyle, which would result, for instance in much higher rates of obesity. It turns out that it does, especially for women. Have a look at this study: Does Religion Increase the Prevalence and Incidence of Obesity in Adulthood? Note that it dates from 2006 and uses data from 1986 to 1994, so obesity rates are considerably higher today.

Feel free to read the study, but in short Baptists and other fundamentalist Christians have by far the highest rates of obesity, while Jews and non-Christians have 1% or less of obesity.

TABLE 2

PERCENT OBESE AT WAVE 1 AND WAVE 3 BY RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: AMERICANS’ CHANGING LIVES, 1986–1994

Number of Cases, W1Obesity
W1W3
Baptist a1,09824%30%
Fundamentalist Protestant b2501822
Pietistic Protestant c5091319
Nondenominational Protestant16655
Reformation-Era Protestant45399
Catholic7201717
Nontraditionalist d9223
Jewish5911
Other non-Christian e180.20.7
None23767
Total3,602

a Includes Southern Baptist, North American Baptist, Fundamentalist Baptist.
b Includes Church of Christ, Pentecostal/Assembly of God, Church of God.
c Includes Methodist, Christian Church, African Methodist Episcopal.
d Includes Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormon, Seventh Day Adventists, and Christian Scientist.
e Includes Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist.
 
I actually know some fundamentalists, some "born" that way, and some who have converted (in my husband's family), and they know very well the effects of a high fat/sugar diet combined with a more sedentary lifestyle. They just choose to ignore it. Interestingly, if they belong to very strict sects, they do give up cigarettes and alcohol.
I knew a few people who were heavy smokers, drinkers and worse and when they started going to church, they kicked those habits, but put on enormous amounts of weight.
 

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