Church-related activities may be a "feeding ground" for America's obesity problem.

Date published: 9/25/2006

By HILLARY RHODES
The Associated Press

Too many carbs in communion wafers? Too much fat in your faith?

A recent study found that some churches and church-related activities are a "feeding ground" for America's obesity problem.

Ken Ferraro, a sociology professor at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Ind., analyzed 2,500 people during an eight-year period to determine the relationship between religious practices and body mass index.

In his study, published in the June issue of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Ferraro found that obesity was more prevalent in some denominations -- particularly Baptists and fundamentalist Protestants. Although unhealthy eating patterns in the South might partly explain that, Ferraro found it was true across the nation.

Religious leaders tended to call cigarette smoking or the consumption of drugs and alcohol sinful, but didn't attach the same label to overeating, Ferraro found. Instead, they have church potlucks and doughnuts after services.

"It has become the accepted vice," he said. "Abstinence doesn't translate as well to food."

Ferraro said there seemed to be a "mind-body dualism," meaning that believers didn't recognize a strong connection between physical health and spiritual well-being. And he said those who are abstaining from other vices might turn to food instead.

Some other religious groups were the opposite, though. Seventh-day Adventists, Mormons, Christian Scientists and Jews, for example, tended to encourage very healthy heating habits, the study showed.

And across the board, there are examples of religious groups who have taken the initiative to cultivate weight management among their members.

DIET

A book called "The Hallelujah Diet," by Dr. George Malkmus, encourages a regimen of raw, natural foods, no meat and plenty of fresh air and exercise.

The diet is based on Genesis 1:29 in the Bible, which says, in the King James Version, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the Earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat."

Malkmus had colon cancer and claims to have fought through it with faith and good habits. Now he is trying to encourage others to do the same with a ministry called Hallelujah Acres, based out of Shelby, N.C.

A NEW FOCUS

The Weigh Down Workshop, a program that offers online and in-person courses across the country, tries to get far away from dieting on the path to finding a healthy weight. To diet is to focus on the wrong thing, according to the people at Weigh Down.

"Religion is simply what you adore. Everyone adores or worships something," said Weigh Down founder Gwen Shamblin. "And so we're saying if you worship the refrigerator, the chocolate cake, it's going to rob you of your time, your self-esteem, your clothing, your relationships. But if you transfer the same passion over to God, then He gives back."

Date published: 9/25/2006