and now for a bizarre little factlet, from our friends at medicalnews:
“America is becoming known as a nation of gluttony and obesity, and churches are a feeding ground for this problem,” says Ken Ferraro, a professor of sociology who has studied religion and body weight since the early 1990s. “If religious leaders and organizations neglect this issue, they will contribute to an epidemic that will cost the health-care system millions of dollars and reduce the quality of life for many parishioners.”
He analyzed the religious practices and body mass index, often referred to as BMI, of more than 2,500 people during an eight-year period from 1986 to 1994. He found that the use of religious media resources, such as television, books or radio, was a strong predictor of obesity among women. The incidence of obesity increased by 14 percent for this group. At the same time, the more often women attended religious services, the less likely they were to be obese.
apparently this is not the first time ken ferraro has studied the connection between obesity and religion. what an … intriguing subject of study, don’t you think?
go here for the rest of the article.
isabella mori
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