church is a heavy trip, man

We have seen that those who attend church or have a religious belief have generally better wellbeing in terms of health and longevity. But some things don't work out so well - at least in the US.

In a recently completed study, more than 2400 men and women in the US, generally in their twenties, were followed for 18 years. It found that while all participants were of normal weight at the start of the study, religious believers were much more likely to be obese by the end, when they were generally in their forties. The study didn't identify why this was so, but the study leader suggested it may be that churches tend to socialise around food, and church attenders may simply be spending more time together eating what is a fatty diet.

photo: Picasa

Despite this detriment to their health, it remains true the church attenders still generally live longer and have better mental health, presumably because they tend to have lower rates of other harmful practices such as smoking.

Gluttony used to be one of the seven deadly sins, and is perhaps today one of the "biggest" weaknesses of the faithful.