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Is there any correlation between religion and health?
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I googled some charts and the most distinctive things are education levels and poverty levels. Not religion.6
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It's not religion. It's just that religion happens to be part of the culture of obese people in those areas. Fat people get fat by overeating calories. They just like to eat a lot of calories in those areas while they comply with religion.
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Interesting topic. I'm not clear if there is a trend for religious people to be fatter or thinner but...
I'm struggling to pull together coherent argument but bear with me... I wonder if there is an argument that the most religious are more likely to consider their health to be in the hands of a higher power and therefore something that they are relatively powerless to affect?
In other words "The lord has made me weak and now sent me this diabetes as a cross to bear". Whereas someone who is agnostic or atheist is more likely to say - "I'm the master of my own destiny and my health is my choice".
That is not to say that every theist or atheist would act in the way I've presented above but if a significant proportion did , that would have a net effect on the group?
Like I said, I'm struggling to put it into words and I really don't mean any offence to theists - If it comes across that way it is my clumsy writing rather than intention.6 -
Nah, I'd imagine the correlation if there is one would be rather weak.
As others have said there may be a susceptibility to religion due to poverty and poverty leading to a susceptibility to poor health outcomes.3 -
So my issue I see among the religious groups is the higher expectation of living a prosperous lifestyle that sets itself apart from everyone else. Case in point: "by His stripes we are healed" or " name it and claim it" , I'm the head but not the tail" ... and so forth...
With all these powerful passages of supposedly living an abundant life, I see no difference from believers and non- believers, but I see the cultural aspects that all (non- and believers) follow.
Growing up in church myself, I would see hundreds go to the alter call for prayer and most of the time it was for health related issues, only to see them go back and order a bucket of fried chicken from KFC. Did the prayers work? Well according to my observation, most of them died of heart disease and/or living with diabetes, wheel chair or cain, and lack of energy for the most part.
I believe it's the game of follow the leader. The Pastor is suppose to be the shepherd, and the congregation is considered his flock. I believe that the pastor/leader is responsible for the well being of his congregation since most are not taught to think for themselves, but most are only taught to have faith and believe.
For example: If you're sick, " just pray about it and trust God" whatever happens it's in His Will. If you're healed, they will thank God, but if you die, it's his will.
I can only speak of my personal experience, and observing my family members to relate to this issue.11 -
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TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »
I thought about that too, however, even in the South in areas that are considered poverty, the diseases are in the category of Diseases of affluence and not the diseases of poverty that you see in 3rd world countries.
So the diseases of affluence is the same affect as someone in the upper, middle, and lower class, due to they fact that they are all considered wealthy since they have an abundance of resources to tap into.
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rashadlc1980 wrote: »So the diseases of affluence is the same affect as someone in the upper, middle, and lower class, due to they fact that they are all considered wealthy since they have an abundance of resources to tap into.
But it's not. We know in the US that the stats vary and track income level and education, among other things.3 -
rashadlc1980 wrote: »So my issue I see among the religious groups is the higher expectation of living a prosperous lifestyle that sets itself apart from everyone else.
I think you are over generalizing. I do not see a connection between a higher expectation of living a prosperous lifestyle and religion in my own background/religious affiliation. I would say that the prosperity gospel, if that is what you are talking about, is a very specific kind of religion.Growing up in church myself, I would see hundreds go to the alter call for prayer and most of the time it was for health related issues, only to see them go back and order a bucket of fried chicken from KFC.
I believe you, but in my own religious tradition there aren't any altar calls, and I've never seen KFC as a church-associated meal. We do have occasionally food-related events, but the food chosen is not any different than what I'd see at other food-related events in the same area/city/general social groups. So again it might be the region and cultural background dictating what religious people in those areas do after church vs. the religion itself.4 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »rashadlc1980 wrote: »So my issue I see among the religious groups is the higher expectation of living a prosperous lifestyle that sets itself apart from everyone else.
I think you are over generalizing. I do not see a connection between a higher expectation of living a prosperous lifestyle and religion in my own background/religious affiliation. I would say that the prosperity gospel, if that is what you are talking about, is a very specific kind of religion.Growing up in church myself, I would see hundreds go to the alter call for prayer and most of the time it was for health related issues, only to see them go back and order a bucket of fried chicken from KFC.
I believe you, but in my own religious tradition there aren't any altar calls, and I've never seen KFC as a church-associated meal. We do have occasionally food-related events, but the food chosen is not any different than what I'd see at other food-related events in the same area/city/general social groups. So again it might be the region and cultural background dictating what religious people in those areas do after church vs. the religion itself.
Okay makes sense. I guess I'm speaking from a subjective perspective. Glad to know that it's a possibility that there's not a correlation between the two. Maybe ethical? not sure. Prosperity gospel was taken out of context and it doesn't mean money in general terms of the context.
Thanks
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I fight myself with the word glutton or gluttony used quite frequently as I witnessed alcoholism with my father and brother and blamed them for being gluttons to the spirits as I am now to the food, I fight this as it says he will take from the gluttonous until there is no more to take as I watched my father and brother lose everything mentally, spiritually and materialistic as I am doing with the food4
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It's not religion. It's just that religion happens to be part of the culture of obese people in those areas. Fat people get fat by overeating calories. They just like to eat a lot of calories in those areas while they comply with religion.
This. There are overweight people who are not religious that also live in areas where there are a lot of religious folk. I don't think there is any correlation at all. Just as there are fat vegetarians there are also fat meat eaters. It's all relative.
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If you're going to be taken care of in the next world, taking care of yourself I'm this one doesn't have the same urgency.6
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It's all about economics --- not religion.
Unhealthy food is cheap, and healthy food is expensive. https://www.quora.com/Why-are-fat-people-the-poor-people-in-America-whereas-thin-people-are-seen-as-rich
I bought an apple and it cost me $1.30. When I could have ordered from the value menu at mickey d's. And trust me, people rather have fast food than beans or other healthy cheap food.
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StealthHealth wrote: »Interesting topic. I'm not clear if there is a trend for religious people to be fatter or thinner but...
I'm struggling to pull together coherent argument but bear with me... I wonder if there is an argument that the most religious are more likely to consider their health to be in the hands of a higher power and therefore something that they are relatively powerless to affect?
In other words "The lord has made me weak and now sent me this diabetes as a cross to bear". Whereas someone who is agnostic or atheist is more likely to say - "I'm the master of my own destiny and my health is my choice".
That is not to say that every theist or atheist would act in the way I've presented above but if a significant proportion did , that would have a net effect on the group?
Like I said, I'm struggling to put it into words and I really don't mean any offence to theists - If it comes across that way it is my clumsy writing rather than intention.
This is good insight. I would also point out there's the opposite side of the coin, where those who are sincerely religious and overweight see themselves as committing the sin of gluttony, and actively struggle to let go of the sin. There's also a strong vein in some religions along the lines of "God helps those who help themselves". What I'm thinking here is that there are so many different ways of fulfilling God's will among various religions that it's not really possible to just assign a single variable (religious vs not religious) and make any sort of valid conclusion. The same goes for the non-religious community. certainly many would feel that they alone have control over their destiny, but I think just as many feel that they're destined to be fat because of genes, or evolution or whatever.
edited because spelling4 -
Very little. Unless a religious specifically bans a lot of bad foods (Janism - no killing anything animal or plant, leaves okay because the plant will still be alive, potatoes not), then no. It's more a correlation to demographics. The deep South tends to have a higher obesity rate that the Pacific Northwest. But, if you look at the foods and lifestyle habits, that's where the difference is, regardless of religion.3
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TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »It's all about economics --- not religion.
Unhealthy food is cheap, and healthy food is expensive. https://www.quora.com/Why-are-fat-people-the-poor-people-in-America-whereas-thin-people-are-seen-as-rich
I bought an apple and it cost me $1.30. When I could have ordered from the value menu at mickey d's. And trust me, people rather have fast food than beans or other healthy cheap food.
That last part is important. The economics argument takes the onus off of the overweight entirely. This is a false dichotomy, as it can he both. Just because the cheeseburger costs the same as the fruit or whatever, doesn't mean that the cost is entirely to blame. There is still a choice to be made.
Also, where the hell do you live? Even when I was in the hood, I could find a whole damned 3 lbs. bag of apples for about $4.9 -
Iamnotasenior wrote: »Anyone who has ever been to a church pot luck supper, church picnic, church barbecue or prayer breakfast knows there is definitely a correlation between religion and eating. (from a southern baptist preacher's daughter) :-)
Other aspects of religion that can influence health are admonitions not to abuse substances, like cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, etc., the social aspect which can stimulate mental health and well-being, faith in God which can create a sense of optimism and gratefulness which also creates a sense of mental well-being and possibly, a supernatural "energy" that is not yet understood by science that is experienced by the religious.
I do know there have been several studies that have linked church attendance to living longer. But I found another study which breaks it down by denomination and found that the health effects of regular church attendance were actually only found in Evangelical Protestants, probably due to the fact that they tend to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes less than the general population. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3035005/
It's an interesting topic. Thanks for starting the discussion!
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rashadlc1980 wrote: »Why are the unhealthiest states, cities, countries are the most religious? Example: The bible belt (states) etc.. The healthiest countries are the least religious. What's the correlation between the two? Your thoughts. Simple dialogue!
I live in the Bible Belt and I know fat people, skinny people, and all in between. I also know religious people and non religious people. Not everyone in the Bible Belt is religious. Also, just looking at my church of about 500 people, I would guess 80% are in a healthy weight range.
From my perspective, no correlation.5 -
Iamnotasenior wrote: »Anyone who has ever been to a church pot luck supper, church picnic, church barbecue or prayer breakfast knows there is definitely a correlation between religion and eating. (from a southern baptist preacher's daughter)
I used to be Russian Orthodox -- before a crisis of faith; now I'm not religious at all -- and served as a subdeacon. Most of the time that meant I was an overgrown altar boy, but when the bishop visited I had much more do to, since the real job of that position was to assist the bishop during services.
The other thing that happens when a bishop visits a parish is that the parish goes all-out with the meal following the liturgy. Everyone wants to put their best foot forward, and that includes those who do the cooking. So there I was sitting across the table from him with these piles of food everywhere, and I just had to ask him how any bishop avoids a weight problem since this kind of thing is exactly what happens every time he visits any parish. (He was himself on the chunky side, and at one point had resorted to bariatric surgery to lose weight.) He just shrugged and said it was really, really hard. As if on cue the rectors's wife bustled up to the table with a plate of something in her hands. "Oh, Vladyka! You have to try this!"
So yeah. If not for the fact that fasting rules forced the observant to eat reduced amounts of vegan food for roughly half the year, I think we'd all have been pretty fat.6
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