The Daily Bread: Examining the Relationship Between Church Attendance and Dietary Behaviors in Mississippi Adults
Jaylan Green1, Jennifer L. Lemacks, PhD, RD2, Tammy Greer, PhD2, Sermin Aras, MS, RD2
1Mississippi INBRE Outreach Scholar, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS
2Mississippi INBRE Telenutrition Center, The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS
Mississippi is in the center of the ‘Bible Belt’ and notorious for unhealthy lifestyles. According to the Pew Foundation, Mississippi tied for first place with Alabama as the most religious state in the nation with 83% of the population identifying as Christian and 49% attending church at least once a week. The Center for Disease Control lists Mississippi as having a high obesity rate of over 35% which is the same rate for the nation. Many of the chronic diseases (ie., diabetes and hypertension) that plague Mississippi adults are linked to obesity and prevented by healthy dietary behaviors. Previous global studies have shown that religious teachings, for example viewing the human body as a sacred temple, have positively impacted health behaviors that have the potential to influence obesity rates and result in reduced chronic diseases. Religious organizations, therefore, especially in highly religious areas, have the potential to be part of the solution to Mississippi’s health crisis. The purpose of this study is to examine the relation between church attendance, level of religiosity and dietary behaviors such as fruit and vegetable intake in Mississippi adults. Survey data were collected from Mississippi adults and analyzed using SPSS 20.0 software. Demographic variables including gender, income, race, and level of education were also described. The relation between church attendance, religiosity and dietary behaviors were examined with Pearson correlation and multiple regression analyses. The results showed a relationship between church attendance and religiosity with fruit intake. Church attendance also showed to have a positive correlation with average fruit and vegetable intake. Religiosity showed a significant relationship with average fruit and vegetable intake. For the multiple regression while none of the unique predictors were significant, together they are able to significantly explain 7.4% of the variance between fruit and vegetable intake (R2=.074 F(2,88)=3.494, p=.04). This indicates that people who tend to be more religious also tend to eat more fruits and vegetables. These results provide information about whether churches are fulfilling their obligations to unpack and inform congregations about the meaning of “your body is your temple” and has implications for the need for health ministries in churches in Mississippi.