Posted on 08/26/2019 4:18:54 AM PDT by robowombat
More obesity among black men who attend church often
Black men who attend church almost daily are nearly three times more likely to have obesity than those who never (or very rarely) attend, a new study shows.
Moreover, the study found health differences across denominations: Among black Americans, Catholics and Presbyterians had lower odds of diabetes than Baptists.
The obesity epidemic, like many deleterious outcomes in America, has disproportionately affected the black population, researchers say. While nearly one-third of all men and women have obesity, the rate jumps to nearly one-half (48.4%) among African Americans, putting them at greater risk for diabetesand cardiovascular disease, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
Previous studies have noted a connection between religious attendance and obesity. However, the new report in the Journal of Religion and Health explores that relationship with a specific lens on black Americans who, based on a 2014 study from Pew Research Center, are more likely than other racial and ethnic groups to believe in God, consider religion important, attend church frequently, and read prayer and scripture.
Self care and Faith “Historically black churches have been a source of spiritual and social support, but greater religious engagement must also support good health behaviors,” says lead author Keisha L. Bentley-Edwards, assistant professor of general internal medicine, associate director of research, and director of the health equity working group at the Cook Center at Duke University.
“Both men and women who are active members of their churches are being pulled in a lot of directions outside of their faith community, which can make self-care a lower priority than what is warranted. We want them to make faith and health priorities in their lives, rather than faith or health.”
Researchers used data from the National Survey of American Life to study the intertwining of faith behaviors and health outcomes for more than 4,300 African American and Afro-Caribbean Christians.
The findings show that black men who attend services “nearly every day”—the shortest interval tracked—were roughly three times as likely to have obesity than those never attending or attending less than once a year.
Detecting the reason for this high obesity rate—and, specifically, the negative relationship that exists for men but not women—will require further inquiry, the authors say.
Denominational Differences Researchers have begun to understand how obesity can spread through social networks. For those frequenting the church, the authors write, the space “may facilitate the transfer of obesity” through shared social norms.
The authors also built upon prior research that showed, when considering multiple races across Christian denominations and other faiths, obesity is most prevalent among Baptists. While the authors note no faith-based disparities in obesity rates in their study of black Christians, they found Baptists are significantly more likely to have diabetes than either Presbyterians or Catholics.
The researchers hope that future studies comparing other diabetes risk factors will help explain the increased prevalence of the disease among Baptists. They also posit that denominational differences in attitudes towards one’s body—for example whether one considers the body “a vessel through which members serve God”—may drive these results.
Above all, the researchers suggest the importance for greater finesse in religious health interventions, including the need to potentially tailor these strategies through faith, rather than a uniform approach.
“Although researchers and practitioners have used historically black churches as sites for health promotion initiatives, the nuances within and between denominations are often lost, which may impact the effectiveness of their programs,” Bentley-Edwards says. “We need novel understandings of the indicators that protect and diminish health outcomes.”
The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities funded the work.
Written by: Lucas Hubbard-Duke
First published 15.08.19: https://www.futurity.org/church-obesity-african-american-men-religion-2133452-2/
In your case it makes sense, it’s a matter of making sure you get the max nutrients from the carbs that you do eat.
Stop pot-luck lunches and dinners.
Ah, that’s another good point. We bought this house after our old one got hit by lightning and burned a few years back, and we lost our two Dachshunds, who used to go everywhere with us. We since ‘inherited’ five housecats, all related. Now that they’ve moved back in town, we have reliable cat sitters again to take care of them when we go on vacation or travel for the holidays. They’re the only ones on her side of the family we trust enough to make sure the litter boxes are cleaned, they’re fed and watered, and they get some attention. Otherwise, we’d probably come home to five half-starved, semi-crazed feral felines and a house that smelled like the inside of a lion cage at the zoo. LOL
I just keep it frying until it’s as brown and crispy as I want it. No slime can survive the cast iron treatment for long! LOL
Peach
Growing up I had a friend who walked a few blocks to Catholic Mass everyday at 6:00pm.
It was only when he walked back home that we’d start raising hell.
It’s all them pot lucks.
Most basic thing researchers should learn
Correlation does not equal Causation!!
It’s those church suppers! Better cooking you will get no where else!
Yep. To us Southern Baptists, the answer was obvious having read only the headline. There are more than ample opportunities to EAT at or because of, church...
I’m white, but there are several kinds of Baptists, and down here in Tennessee and most of the South, a lot of those Baptist Churches are predominantly black. AND - a lot of those churches have all-day Sunday services. Everybody comes to Worship Service in the morning, there’s a break to eat lunch (everybody brings something they cooked/bought), and then, back to the Sanctuary.
Out in the country, I’ve attended many “decoration days”, or “homecoming” Sundays where everyone puts flowers on graves in the church cemetery, and has a giant picnic, or “dinner on the grounds”.
In our suburban Baptist church, one of the most active (and demanding) committees is the “Hospitality Committee”. It’s the biggest, and busiest one, serving, or having catered meals at least every Wednesday night, for many of the class parties, etc.
We have a sign-up sheet for who’s bringing breakfast (pastries, ham & biscuits, donuts) every week in Sunday School! Take it from a long-time Southern Baptist - WE LOVE TO EAT.
OH, almost forgot - Next weekend, we’re having a Labor Day Fish Fry - all the fried catfish you can eat, basically. Can’t wait...
A former Pastor once joked, “If you wake up in the middle of the night craving fried chicken, you know God is calling you to be a Baptist preacher!”
(I’m a bit overweight, but no medical problems - I lose weight when I need to.)
So sorry about your house and your pups. I have two Mountain Feists and I always worry about fire when we leave so if the weather is decent we put them in the outside kennel. It is inside their fenced yard. No cats except for a few ferals that hang around. Everybody wants to dump unwanted cats in the country. My daughter’s dog is my girls brother.
Old cast iron skillets are all I will fry okra in. Nothing else cooks it like cast iron. I’ll have to try the no breading way. I’ll probably like it.
but, leave it to the leftists to denigrate people of faith and you can almost read between the lines that they and their beloved totalitarian govt would love to demand what churches teach, what activities they do, what kind of food is served and probably demand that churches have regular mandatory exercise classes....
look at what China is doing to the Catholic church, all approved by our pope
I’m also in S. Tennessee and there are a lot of black Baptist churches around. IMO, there is not much better than a black Baptist church. It’s odd that you will see whites attend a black church but not the other way around. Nobody cares but most of the Baptist churches locally are pretty much self segregated. A black funeral is the same as a black church with a lot of emotion. One of my sisters was married to a black man. He was a captain in the air-force. They had three sons before they divorced. My sister stayed close to his parents until the boys were grown in Atlanta. When the youngest was in college he got really sick and died. The funeral was held in Atlanta and it was a combination of the screaming, crying, wailing black side and the stuffy reserved white side. Her son was only 19 when he passed so I didn’t think anything about it at the time because everybody was upset but later I realized how much more emotional and ‘real’ emotion is with the black relatives. So many of the white churches are very formal and reserved. Both like the Sunday fried chicken tradition though.
Sounds good.
I am basically KETO but I am not fanatic about it. If we are out with friends or at a party, I do the best I can, but WILL eat carbs. I don’t want to be a butt about it. “No, I can’t eat there.” (In a whiney voice does not happen.)
I also try and be active. Aerobics three times a week. Swim 10,000 yards a week. Walk with the wife so she gets her 10,000 daily steps.
In the last 5 years, upon retirement, went from 217lb to 170lb.
Life is good. ;o)
Outstanding job. 200 laps in a regular pool is a whole lot.
In Winter, I only swim 3000 yards a week.
Ours is a small Baptst church, with an ever-dwindling congregation. The average attendence is maybe, twenty on a good Sunday. There was a time during homecoming that you’d see people who drifted away, moved away, or joined other churches show up in the community room after service, and there would be fifty people in there with a 12 foot buffet line. Now, not so much.
When I say “central” PA I mean central. Centre County.There’s a lot of canned Southern food down here in the stores, and one is a seasoned mix of tomatoes, okra, and corn. They season it with garlic, onion, and the like, and we have to heat two cans up as a dinner side, because it’s so good we could eat it alone as a meal.
Went grocery shopping because I’ve been put on a low fiber diet temporarily, and lo and behold I found some cans of food on offer answering that exact description. I can’t eat them at the moment, but I bought two in case we like them the way you do when I can eat them. :-)
It’s those coffee and cookies and then Red Lobster after the services on Sunday. Mmmmmmm! Mmmmmmm!
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