Troubling: Church goers and obesity

TheMaidOfAstolat

Church = Food. Always. There is a never ending supply....before church, after church lunches, potlucks...revival meetings with lunch after. We just need to restrain ourselves and start bringing healthy options to share...maybe others will get the hint.

RaeN81

I have been thinking about this lately and wondering if starting a fitness group at church isn't something I could do to help. I think we need to be part of the solution for ourselves and others since we are called to take care of our bodies.

mrmarius

something i've been seeing and saying for years..its as if we get so caught up in spiritual health we neglect physical health. gotta maintain this earthly temple though

Oppie81

95% of the time, after church, my family and I go out for brunch... Not a good thing! LOL

TooFine4MFP

Before I got back into ministry, I worked out 4-5 days a week and stayed in shape. But as my ministry duties started to consume more of my time, I had less time working out and more time in church. That compounded w/ the fact that when our church family was small, we would always go out to eat after church, even after special services, sometimes very late at night. I gained about 25 lbs as a result. Now I have lost that weight again, because I believe that I need to be in shape to do what God has called me to do. Ministry can be very strenuous work and I don't want to be too out of shape to do it. The Body of Christ in general is terribly obese, because of potlucks, church celebration dinners, wedding dinners, funeral dinners, we look for any reason we can to eat. And the menu is never healthy because you have to cater to the majority who don't want to eat healthy. I think it is a blessing for Pastors to lead the charge and if you look nowadays you see more pastors who do workout, who promote healthy living and who are in great shape.

neelia

My small group (otherwise known as Sunday school) friends ALWAYS bring something fatty in the mornings to eat. When I brought in healthy food, no one ate it. Not to mention each Wednesday was fellowship and everything was fried and tossed in oil. No wonder!

dave4d

I believe there are a number of factors involved. One is that church goers tend to be more family oriented. It is hard to go to the gym sometimes when you have a lot of young children around that you are trying to raise. Parents tend to put off their own needs for their children. We also tend to eat things that our kids will like. I haven't seen too many kids that like vegetables.

Church goers tend to pay more attention to what is on the inside of a person than the outside. They aren't as concerned with looking "sexy", or "hot", at the beach, because showing skin is frowned upon.

I was in the bible belt for a couple of years. I know they love their fried foods, and bbq. I don't think it is as much a religious thing, as it is a cultural thing though.

FaithandFitness

My faith is super important to me, and recently I realized that by overeating and being lazy I was shutting down part of my life and edging God out of that. I took on other areas in life with great faith, homeschooling made me rely heavily on God's grace, among other things. I did not submit myself to obedience in this area of health, however. I feel a calling in my life to become a personal trainer of sorts and nutrition counselor and lead a ministry of this type on a local church level . . . still awaiting for God's confirmation on that.

FaithandFitness

No joke, just thought of the huge donut and bagel buffet that is offered at our church after every Sunday service . . . I usually refrain from it, but it is still there always

BobbyDaniel

Sadly, the weight issue in churches has a lot to do with the culture. Because Christians tend to have few other "vices", food becomes it. That is why the idea of fellowship in most churches is so food oriented.
Add to that the tendency to want to get together and eat after services, usually at a buffet, it doesn't help. And of course, the potlucks...wow! I gained back 13 of the 20 pounds I had previously lost after moving here in August 2009. Part of the reason was back to back "eating meetings" on my first two Sunday's here.

I do think that pastors do need to set the example though. When I was in college I decided to lose some weight, and did, because I was in classes with a lot of non-traditional students who were older pastors, and they had pushed their waist bands to the limits. I determined then that I would not let that be my future and did a little something about it. Little did I know how much stress and other factors while pastoring would lead to even more weight gain, as well as the sedentary lifestyle of being in an office.

Thankfully my better habits are rubbing off. We have some church members and our secretary who have decided it was time for them to make some changes health wise.
This body is God's temple, so I'm more than happy to kick out the chinese buffet and return it to it's rightful owner!

rockabyesarojane

Church pot-lucks. 'Nuf said.

I was going to say the same thing. Plus there are usually snacks set out before and after services so people feel more comfortable mingling.

porcelain_doll

I don't know.... that article seems strange to me. You know, any social gathering we attend anywhere usually involves food, whether it's an entire meal or a snack. Yes, churches have a lot of dinners, potlucks, brunches, and breakfasts - but so do other groups and clubs. Social gatherings and food is a cultural equation in itself. If you're very active in any of them, chances are you will join them multiple times for some kind of meal.

I feel that the Church in general remains a consistent target in the media, even in subtle manners such as the tone that this article is written in. While I agree that there are plenty of overweight individuals found in church on Sunday morning, I think it's a bit ridiculous to pen an article on the matter and placing the Church in the spotlight.

I agree that pastors need to remind congregations that taking care of our bodies/temples means laying off the gluttonous diets. I need to do the same. What I find notable is that certain denominations, particular those of a more "reformed" theology, if you will, speak down to those who drink and say they are not Christian if they drink, while they themselves remain ignorant of their diets and failing health due to obesity and over-eating. I understand there are doctrinal differences between the denominations in regard to alcohol consumption, but I don't understand why some things are more obvious than others. Pride certainly gets in the way, for sure.

rockabyesarojane

I don't know.... that article seems strange to me. You know, any social gathering we attend anywhere usually involves food, whether it's an entire meal or a snack. Yes, churches have a lot of dinners, potlucks, brunches, and breakfasts - but so do other groups and clubs. Social gatherings and food is a cultural equation in itself. If you're very active in any of them, chances are you will join them multiple times for some kind of meal.

I feel that the Church in general remains a consistent target in the media, even in subtle manners such as the tone that this article is written in. While I agree that there are plenty of overweight individuals found in church on Sunday morning, I think it's a bit ridiculous to pen an article on the matter and placing the Church in the spotlight.

I agree that pastors need to remind congregations that taking care of our bodies/temples means laying off the gluttonous diets. I need to do the same. What I find notable is that certain denominations, particular those of a more "reformed" theology, if you will, speak down to those who drink and say they are not Christian if they drink, while they themselves remain ignorant of their diets and failing health due to obesity and over-eating. I understand there are doctrinal differences between the denominations in regard to alcohol consumption, but I don't understand why some things are more obvious than others. Pride certainly gets in the way, for sure.

also true.

Atlantique

Church goers tend to pay more attention to what is on the inside of a person than the outside. They aren't as concerned with looking "sexy", or "hot", at the beach, because showing skin is frowned upon.

I wonder if some regular churchgoers also misinterpret proper health in the form of healthy eating and exercise as 'vanity'.

And I've met an awful lot of super-religious people who really dislike their bodies and are sort of fearful of them, usually due to their particular religion's teachings on sexuality. I've got to wonder how that factors into it in some denominations.

forthefab5

I'm in Australia and I've got to say, in my church growing up, I never experienced this. Our church was very forward in terms of fitness and sports. We had quarterly meets called a 'Sportsfest' which consisted of friendly games between different states in sports such as basketball, table tennis, volleyball, etc. We were also encouraged to form cheerleading teams and spent many weeks leading up to each sportsfest making routines and practicing. We did have the inevitable pot luck occasions as well but I don't actually recall the congregation overeating at the time....

melham

Church goers tend to pay more attention to what is on the inside of a person than the outside. They aren't as concerned with looking "sexy", or "hot", at the beach, because showing skin is frowned upon.

I think you hit the nail right on the head. They pay a lot of attention to what's on the inside, like fried chicken, and pie, and soda, and cake, and mac and cheese, and meatloaf, and mashed potatoes, and hamburgers, and french fries, and pancakes, and... :laugh:

atomiclauren

I was going to say... maybe it's more of a fellowship thing than a strictly religious one. Many people gather over food for many different reasons. I'm not religious and grew up in a secular household, but I do find it a very sweeping generalization..

atomiclauren

Okay, nevermind. I read a study that Feinstein headed that was released last year but centered on CVD (cardiovascular disease):

"After adjustment for demographic covariates, participants who attended services daily, compared with never, were significantly more likely to be obese but less likely to smoke"
[...]
"There were no consistent patterns of association observed between measures of religiosity and presence/extent of subclinical CVD at baseline or incident CVD events during longitudinal follow-up in the course of 4 years"
[...]
"CONCLUSIONS: Our results do not confirm those of previous studies associating greater religiosity with overall better health risks and status, at least with regard to CVD. There was no reduction in risk for CVD events associated with greater religiosity."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20100975

chris0912

maybe "pole-dancing for jesus" would help the problem! LOL!

LINIA

This TOPIC is from about 18 months ago, i wonder if people who rsponded here have noticed any difference in obesity numbers of the friends about whom they wrote..........interesting " churchgoers and obesity".