Haredi Obesity and Evangelical One

The US History Blog mentions that "people who go to church regularly are more likely to tip the scales as adults than their non-religious counterparts."

It is a good question, why "young adults who regularly attend religious activities may be more prone to obesity by middle age than their nonreligious peers" (according to the Los Angeles Times)

Some commentators on that blog provided an indirect connection between Evangelism and obesity (how mind and soul are more important than the worldly flesh), while others tried to explain the phenomenon as indirectly linked to religion, through socio-economic variables that are both common among Evangelical Christians and among obese Americans.

I have tried to comment there, and I am not sure why, but it couldn't work, and then I thought that in any case, I am not much qualified to add insights about US Evangelicals. However, one interesting aspect that might shed a light on the link between religiosity and obesity, is the fact that also among Ultra Orthodox (Haredi) Jews, the rates of obesity are higher than those of non-Haredi Jews (e.g. here in Hebrew; here in English about other eating disorders in this sector) .

Haredim, too, favour learning and worship over "wordly" activities, so the religious explanation, surprisingly, cannot be dismissed only because of the addition of a different population.

Haredim also generally tend to be poorer than the general population. However, this is not entirely true in the Evangelical case, according to the comments to the original post.

However, both populations, one could assume, are rather suspicious of innovations, fashions and new trends - at least ones that don't come from their own society - and this is not only true regarding religious practices, but also regarding nutrition, keeping fit, etc. Walking through Rabbi Akiva Street in Bnei Brak (or Me'a She'arim Street in Jerusalem), the business selling prepared food would be selling mostly fatty "comfort" food. Not some (kosher) Vegan-Sushi.

Another explanation could be that these are relatively "busy" populations who might view going to the gym or eating right as a "waste of time". When they are not working, they usually have large families to care for and spend time with, and when they are doing neither, they are usually at shul (church, in the Christian case, of coruse), learning, or volunteering.

Evangelical and Haredi women both tend to experience more pregnancies than the average Western woman, and with every pregnancy, the risk of obesity might be rising.