Have Faith, Lose Weight: New Study Connects Faith and Fitness

By Adelle M. Banks
Religion News Service

(RNS) Adding faith to the exercise regimen of African-American women may prompt them to be more fit, a UCLA study shows.

Researchers studying black women from three Los Angeles churches who participated in faith-based physical activity found the women increased their walking by about three miles per week.

The study results, published this month (October) in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, involved 62 Catholic, African Methodist Episcopal and Seventh-day Adventist women. All participated in exercises but some also listened to scripture reading and participated in group
prayer. Others, in a control group, listened instead to lectures on topics such as memory loss and identity theft.

The women involved in the faith-based program increased their weekly steps by 78 percent while those in the control group saw an increase of 19 percent.

"Our findings suggest that interventions using faith-based strategies may be effective in changing behavior among older African-American women," said Dr. O. Kenrik Duru, the lead researcher from UCLA.

Researchers pursued the study based on previous findings that older black women are the least physically active among race and sex subgroups in the country and more than 95 percent of older African-American adults say they pray almost daily.

Comments

[ArtsyJane]

06:58 PM on 10/19/2010

Where I live, the majority of obese people are also highly religious. Not sure if there's a direct connection, but I would be hard pressed to find an obese secular person around here. They certainly exist; just very hard to find.

[SkDo]

06:32 PM on 10/18/2010

Yeah, Ted Haggard, the former evangelical preacher of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs that was busted for meth and gay sex, is now, in his new preacher role has joined this new religious "God wants you to by skinny" kick:

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/06/02/haggard-new-church/

[curiousdwk]

05:48 PM on 10/18/2010

Jeez. Yet another example of assuming that a correlation is equivalent to a "cause and effect". How can reporters and leaders be so gullible and forget what they should have learned in statistics. A Correlation DOES NOT indicate a cause and effect. Reporters should be required to go back to school to write than on the blackboard (or whiteboard) at least 100 times.

[cayuse]

12:50 PM on 10/18/2010

Multiple Choice: In eternity what is most important

A) Body

B) Mind

C) Soul

D) None of the above

[Alien Nation]

10:35 AM on 10/21/2010

D, there is no eternity so nothing has importance.

[CoastalNC]

12:33 PM on 10/18/2010

It isn't because of religion...it is interest. The women who walked more listening to religious things were interested in what they were hearing....the women who didn't walk as much weren't interest as much in what they were hearing. As a walker I know that when I get lost in the head phones I sometimes find that I have walked more than I intended because I wasn't paying attention to how far I'd gone or how much further I had to go and it had nothing to do with religion at all and everything to do with interest.

[recless]

01:41 AM on 10/18/2010

Man, what pseudoscientific claptrap. Control group? A control group would be a group NOT of the churches who also listen to the same things. Then I might... maybe... could take this so-called research seriously.

So funny. If the research is correct, and there is a positive benefit to health from having faith... does that actually give you any evidence of whether god(s) exists? Nope.

[jweider]

06:04 PM on 10/17/2010

Most likely the difference in results had to do with the rate at which the person on the recording was speaking.
When someone is exercising and listening to something that is at a faster tempo they are going to run or walk faster than when they are listening to something at a slower tempo.
For example someone listening to an uptempo rock song while running will usually run at a faster pace than someone listening to baroque.
Sermons tend to be given at a faster pace than lectures because the person giving the sermon doesn't want the listener to have time to critically evaluate the content of their message but rather they want it to be taken at face value.

[Adam2179502]

09:26 AM on 10/17/2010

Faith is also connected with sexually assaulting kids.

[Mandles99]

11:59 AM on 10/18/2010

What does that have to do with this study ? I don't get people who get on here, just to bash religion. If you don't like it, stay away from it.

[Adam2179502]

06:23 PM on 10/18/2010

Really? Religion has pushed is way into public policy and made me the target of terrorist attacks. Keep your religion out of my way and we have no problems. What a nice religion you belong to where you can overlook kids being sexually assaulted.

[tosc]

08:24 AM on 10/17/2010

when did this become a discovery? Any time you believe in what your goals are the result, in the direction of that goal, will be accelerated. Now the answer to weight loss is church?
While I agree that positive support is a crucial component for success, church in the general sense, is not the answer. You do not need a paster or preacher in order to loose weight. You need self confidence, self esteem and support.

[CoastalNC]

12:38 PM on 10/18/2010

You need determination and desire that overrides anything else. I lost 250 pounds years ago with just those two things...then I gained the self-confidence and self esteem after losing weight and I did it all without support from anyone. It could also be an individual thing...some people may really need support, I'm too independent and stubborn to require support for most things.

[dubbleplusgood]

07:02 AM on 10/17/2010

new study connects faith and fitness.
new study connects faith and environmentalism.
new study connects faith and morality.
new study connects faith and people who make new studies.

[wakawaka09]

08:09 AM on 10/17/2010

We have a winner!

[CoastalNC]

12:39 PM on 10/18/2010

I'd say someone is pushing that faith business pretty hard....

[petegrif]

05:44 AM on 10/17/2010

this is the lead researcher of the study

http://www.chime.ucla.edu/investigators/kenrik.htm

he clearly has a genuine desire to help older people in minority communities to live healthier lives. from his perspective anything that gets them off the couch is good and if this works - go for it.

[petegrif]

05:38 AM on 10/17/2010

this is clearly a sound conclusion
casual empiricism demonstrates that there are no obese people in the bible belt
QED

[wakawaka09]

08:12 AM on 10/17/2010

My thinking exactly. I grew up attending fundy churches. Those people never missed a meal. The only exercise they ever got was flapping their gums, running off at the mouth, and jumping to erroneous conclusions.

[astroup]

03:13 PM on 10/17/2010

So funny...fanned!

[timesprout]

05:33 AM on 10/17/2010

What this study shows is that faith inspires religious women and women with a support group do better with exercise. It does not show any connection whatsoever between religion and fitness. Another meaningless study hyped by HuffPo's misleading headline machine.

[petegrif]

05:38 AM on 10/17/2010

agreed
just flat out silly

[terry63]

04:04 AM on 10/17/2010

Im not an authority on running, my personal best is 13 miles. however I can tell you that running is mental, a weak mind cannot take it. an undiciplined mind will break. Religion Im sure can support a runners mental strength. I see no reason to argue that.

[petegrif]

05:40 AM on 10/17/2010

and whilst you are in a speculative frame of mind - do you think any religion in particular is most beneficial to "a runners mental strength?"
maybe we should look at the results of the olympics and do a longitudinal study of faith adhered to vs place in race?

[jaschrod]

07:26 AM on 10/17/2010

Of course you don't. Now, I wonder why that is. hmmmm

[c-tom]

02:58 AM on 10/17/2010

The article ends: more than 95 percent of older African-American adults, the least physically active subgroup in the country, say they pray almost daily.