Why are religiously affiliated people healthier, on average, than?the less religiously committed??This is a complicated question, and epidemiologists and medical scientists have?not yet come up with an answer that is?conclusively proven to everyone’s satisfaction. In light of?what we know about how religious commitment influences?behaviour and how behaviour?influences health, a reasonable?answer can be proposed. I believe that it is the behaviourally?prescriptive and proscriptive nature of religious commitment that best accounts for the most favourable health profile of religiously affiliated people.
Well Being Factor
For sure, while not all religiously affiliated people follow all the health related guidelines of their particular religion, we can expect that, on average, people who report a religious identity are more likely to follow the dictates of their religion than people who report no affiliation at all. Among these religiously affiliated and committed people, commitment to health-promoting religious doctrines encourages healthy practices that prevent illness and enhance physical and emotional health and overall well-being. Can this be proven?
If we think of the relationships among religious affiliation, healthy behaviour, and health as links on a chain, then to support my assertion, we need to examine the research evidence for two of those links: from religious affiliation to healthy behaviour, and from healthy behaviour to health. Research findings support both of these links. Considerable research shows that membership in particular religions or religious denominations correlates strongly with the practice of healthy behaviour. This is a familiar finding to researchers in the field of medical sociology and the sociology of religion. Additional findings from epidemiologic studies show that unhealthy behaviours are associated with higher rates of disease and death. This is one of the most commonly observed findings in the field of social and behavioural epidemiology. Together, these findings establish the link between religious affiliation and health, and support the conclusion that religious involvement should be considered a vital component of a healthy lifestyle.
Not surprisingly, the religious groups with the most favourable health profiles are also the groups that most actively and explicitly promote healthy behavioural choices and healthy living in general.
Mormons are much less likely to smoke tobacco or drink alcohol, consume caffeinated beverages such as coffee or tea, or have multiple sexual partners. Each of these behaviours is a known risk factor for cancer.
Seventh-Day Adventists are more likely to abstain from tobacco and alcohol and to follow a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet, choices that protect against cancer. Adventists who are stricter in their observances of dietary guidelines also have lower rates of death due to heart disease.
The Amish and Hutterites discourage tobacco use, discourage alcohol use or tolerate it only in moderation, and exhibit very low levels of premarital and extramarital sex, these factors are responsible, in part, for their lower rates of cancer.
A connection between religious involvement and healthy behaviour, at least in principle, is obvious. Religions may wrap a blanket of moral sanction around certain behaviour that directly or indirectly influence physical health and emotional well- being.
Abridged from God, Faith, And Health, Wiley, Times Group Books.
-Jeff Levin
