Statistics on food and the Church

A 2011 study conducted by author Matthew J. Feinstein found that young adults who regularly attended religious services were 50% more likely to become obese by the time they reached middle age. Read More...


A 2006 study at Purdue found that fundamental Christians are significantly the heaviest of all religious groups, led by Baptists with a 30% obesity rate compared with Jews at 1%, Buddhists and Hindus at 0.7%.
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According to a 2007 issue of the Journal of Southern Baptist Convention, “An Executive Summary Report of Wellness Center statistics for the 2005 [Southern Baptist] convention showed that more than 75% of the 1,472 participants who completed the screening were found to be significantly overweight. Compare this to the national estimate that approximately 65% of adults are considered overweight, and you see a problem that the church must address.” Read more...

A 2014 study by Barna Research Group found that “Those who attended church within the past month (56%) tend to be more concerned about eating too much than marginally churched (46%) and unchurched (40%) adults.” 
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According to the same 2014 study by Barna, “Compared to adherents to non-Christian faiths (47%), more practicing Christians (63%) report feelings of food guilt. And there may be something to the notion of “Catholic guilt,” since even more practicing Catholics—65% of them—say they feel guilt related to eating.” Read more...

Debra Reed, a Texas Tech professor who specializes in food and culture, said the food served at church fellowship events might be somewhat to blame. "When we think of fellowship, we think of getting together and eating," she said. She explained that people typically bring to potlucks their favorite foods, which are high in fat. "We need to rethink the way we do fellowship." Read more...