Troubling: Church goers and obesity

24

Replies

  • rockabyesarojane
    rockabyesarojane Posts: 471
    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
    porcelain_doll Posts: 1,005 Member
    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
    rockabyesarojane Posts: 471
    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
    Atlantique Posts: 2,484 Member
    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
    forthefab5 Posts: 187 Member
    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
    melham Posts: 233 Member
    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
    atomiclauren Posts: 689 Member
    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
    atomiclauren Posts: 689 Member
    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
    chris0912 Posts: 242 Member
    maybe "pole-dancing for jesus" would help the problem! LOL!
  • LINIA
    LINIA Posts: 1,159 Member
    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".
  • tonyrocks922
    tonyrocks922 Posts: 172 Member
    Correlation does not imply causation.

    no one in the thread suggested religious beliefs are the cause of the associated obesity, so I'm not sure what the point of your post is, other than that you think it makes you sound smart.
  • shannashannabobana
    shannashannabobana Posts: 625 Member
    The Bible Belt is also known as the "Diabetes Belt" as this is where you find some of the fattest states, year after year. I am thinking there is a correlation between the two.
    That's what I was wondering, did they control for the regions of the country.
  • shannashannabobana
    shannashannabobana Posts: 625 Member
    That is why the idea of fellowship in most churches is so food oriented.
    I don't know about that...fellowship throughout the history of time has been food related. Breaking bread with others is hardly religious. The people who aren't at church on sunday are probably at brunch...
  • mikeatmichael
    mikeatmichael Posts: 92 Member
    Some churches in my area have weekly zumba classes.
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
    Church pot-lucks. 'Nuf said.

    Hey! That's what I was going to say!
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
    P.S: At the last church I went to, we would always have coffee and pastries after the service.
  • momzeeee
    momzeeee Posts: 475 Member
    At our church almost everyone is thin and it's a larger congregation. We're in a big running community though, and I know that a LOT of people run, we even have a week night running club. We don't do a lot of food events though either-coffee is served every week but not cookies etc. No potlucks either. We do have an Easter morning breakfast and then on graduation (HS/college) Sunday we have cake. But otherwise it's just communion bread :laugh:
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
    Sinnin' is sexy
  • nope31
    nope31 Posts: 174
    [img]http://i961.photobucket.com/albums/ae100/aienma/Awesome Pictures/Jesus.gif[/img]
  • AB4u
    AB4u Posts: 57 Member
    Well if any church members are like my church brothers and sisters, they'll be traditionalists. Most people in my church community are dutch, and dutch people have traditions. Sundays are a day of celebration, and with celebration comes a ton of food. My typical sunday at my parents house goes like this:

    Breakfast: whatever you like, but there's raisin buns and butter available
    Church: candies galore
    Snack: after church coffee with cake (usually involves mass amounts of people coming over)
    Lunch: soup and buns with loads of dutch cheese and deli meats
    Church:candies again!!!
    Snack: chocolate and coffee and chips
    Dinner: huge steak dinner with all the sides available you can think of
    Dessert: cake and coffee again!!
    Snack: chips drinks cookies all kinds of food

    Yeah thats probably over 3000 calories right there in one day.

    Also church communities love to invite people into their homes and prepare a meal for them. Everything seems to revolve around food because its being hospitable as we're called to be hospitable. But I think some of us might be overstepping that.
  • AB4u
    AB4u Posts: 57 Member
    duplicate.sorry
  • caterpillardreams
    caterpillardreams Posts: 476 Member
    Hi
    Well I also think it can be the idea that its too vain to work out a lot, There is obviously a lot that factors into it. yes people find that eating together is a wonderful way to fellowship, but there are other ways, taking a walk, a bike ride and understanding that our bodies are God's temple and we should take care of it.
    Sometimes people think its wrong to take that extra time to want to look better, but they may not see that they will also feel so so much better and be able to minister to others for a longer time God willing.
  • So_Much_Fab
    So_Much_Fab Posts: 1,146 Member
    I used to be very active in the church and life did kinda revolve around food. I cant think of an event (excluding actual church services) that didn't involve food.

    Me too. Most every church event involved lots and lots of food!
  • jenf235
    jenf235 Posts: 157 Member
    I had a great conversation with my pastor one day (he's also my boss). He was commenting on my weight loss and looked at me and said, "You have inspired me to get healthy. I am starting to walk now, too." He started by doing just a little and within the past six months has shed over 50 pounds! I keep trying to convince him to walk with me, but I guess my fast walking reputation has gotten back to him! He is truly leading by example now!
  • sophayz
    sophayz Posts: 592 Member
    easy .. they like tradition, don't believe is science ... easy equation
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    This is an easy fix, you know.

    Church volleyball tournament
    Church softball game
    Church bowling night


    Offer more physical activities to your congregation.
  • caterpillardreams
    caterpillardreams Posts: 476 Member
    easy .. they like tradition, don't believe is science ... easy equation

    I am a Christian I believe in Science, I think many do, we may not agree with everything, but we are not ignorant. Not arguing just stating the truth.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I've never though about it before...but when I and my family were actively attending church, a lot of everything revolved around food. There were pre-church breakfasts with our best church friends...after church lunches...then evening service and after church dinner.

    Monday was youth group and a never ending supply of pizza and soda...Wednesday evening service followed by after service dinner...then the pot-lucks and picnics which were pretty regular occurrences. My dad also held a weekly bible study at the house...always lots of food there as well.

    Hell...I just realized I partied harder when I was a church goer than I do now. Crazy.
  • NanoBear
    NanoBear Posts: 67
    In Western Australia, a lot of junior sport takes place on Sunday mornings, same time as church. A lot of kids who go to church never get to play junior sport. I imagine that could easily be part of the correlation here.
  • Tiffa0909
    Tiffa0909 Posts: 191 Member
    I use to to a Church with older people and I always heard about them not drinking or smoking but excessively eating. It seemed like all of the church activities had to have some food involved.

    But hey if your body is the temple of the holy spirit why are you destroying it.

    This man was able to put it all in spoken word.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV3K8NcVt2o
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