From Conservapedia Two of the major risk factors for becoming obese according to the Mayo Clinic are poor dietary choices and inactivity.[1] According to the Gallup Inc., "Very religious Americans are more likely to practice healthy behaviors than those who are moderately religious or nonreligious."[2]

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According to the Gallup Inc., "Very religious Americans are more likely to practice healthy behaviors than those who are moderately religious or nonreligious."[3]

Gallup declared concerning the study which measured the degree to which religiosity affects health practices: "Generalized linear model analysis was used to estimate marginal scores all five reported metrics after controlling for age (in years), gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, education (number of years), log of income, and region of the country... Results are based on telephone interviews conducted as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index survey Jan. 2-July 28, 2010, with a random sample of 554,066 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, selected using random-digit-dial sampling."[4]

The Gallup study gives some insight into the above average health habits of the very religious and not necessarily the health habits of atheists. The reason is that the Gallup organization defines a non-religious as a person where "Religion is not an important part of daily life and church/synagogue/mosque attendance occurs seldom or never. This group constitutes 29.7% of the adult population."[5] While many Western atheists are non-religious, not all non-religious people are atheists.

Gallup further declares:

A 2010 study reported in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion found that for Korean women living in California, religion "may help prevent obesity."[7]

See also: Atheism and gluttony and Atheism and hedonism and Jesus Christ, the apostles and the Mediterranean diet/Mosaic diet

In the journal article Religion, self-regulation, and self-control: Associations, explanations, and implications, psychologists McCullough and Willoughby theorize that many of the positive links of religiousness with health and social behavior may be caused by religion's beneficial influences on self-control/self-regulation.[8][9] Furthermore, a 2012 Queen's University study published in Psychological Science found that religion replenishes self-control.[10][11] Also, numerous studies indicate that those who engage in regular spiritual practices have lower mortality rates.[12][13] See also: Atheism and hedonism

From a medical perspective, an obese person has accumulated enough body fat that it can have a negative effect on their health. If a person's weight is at least 20% higher than it should be, he/she is generally considered obese. If your Body Mass Index (BMI) is between 25 and 29.9 you are considered overweight.[15] If your BMI is 30 or over you are considered obese.[16] The term obese can also used in a more general way to indicate someone who is overweight.[17]

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