A new Gallup poll has the media miffed as to why 'very Christian' Americans have healthier lifestyles than the non-religious, such as eating right, exercising and not smoking.
-- From "Very Religious Americans Lead Healthier Lives" by Frank Newport, Sangeeta Agrawal, and Dan Witters - Gallup, Inc. 12/23/10
Very religious Americans are more likely to practice healthy behaviors than those who are moderately religious or nonreligious. The most religious Americans score a 66.3 on the Gallup-Healthways Healthy Behavior Index compared with 60.6 among those who are moderately religious and 58.3 for the nonreligious. This relationship, based on an analysis of more than 550,000 interviews, is statistically significant after controlling for major demographic and regional variables.
Very religious Americans make healthier choices than their moderately religious and nonreligious counterparts across all four of the Healthy Behavior Index metrics, including smoking, healthy eating, and regular exercise. Smoking is one area of particular differentiation between the very religious and less religious Americans, with the nonreligious 85% more likely to be smokers than those who are very religious.
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From "Do Very Religious Americans Lead Healthier Lives?" posted at Science + Religion Today 12/24/10
Apparently so, according to a new data analysis by Gallup researchers . . .
This makes sense. After all, many religions have specific rules related to eating, drinking, or smoking. But does religion really cause people to lead healthier lives? Could it be that healthier people are more likely to be religious?
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From "Does Religion Make You Healthier?" by Catherine Rampell, New York Times 12/23/10
It’s hard to know exactly what explains this relationship between religion and healthy habits. Some religions, of course, may specifically prohibit certain unhealthy behaviors. The relationship may go the other way, too: people who tend to lead healthier lifestyles may be drawn to religion for some reason. Or perhaps there is a third hidden variable that accounts for both healthier and more religious behaviors.
An earlier analysis from Gallup also found that the very religious were less likely to have received a diagnosis of depression.
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