Daily HealthBeat Tip

Consuming religious media

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

How you are religious seems to affect how much you weigh. A study finds women who get most of their religion from TV and radio are more likely to be obese.

Ken Ferraro of Purdue University looked at more than 2,500 people over eight years. His report in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Ferraro found women who relied on religious media were 14 percent more likely to be obese. But the more often women went to services, the less likely they were. His advice:

"If they’re consuming religious TV, we are not saying that they should stop doing that. But instead of just sitting on the couch, get yourself a recumbent bike, get a treadmill – and watch that TV while you are doing some other activity." (11 seconds)

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: October 12, 2006

The White House | USA.gov | HHS Archive | No FEAR Act