Religion and healthy lifestyle behaviors among postmenopausal women: the women’s health initiative
Abstract
Worship attendance has been associated with longer survival in prospective cohort studies. A possible explanation is that religious involvement may promote healthier lifestyle choices. Therefore, we examined whether attendance is associated with healthy behaviors, i.e. use of preventive medicine services, non-smoking, moderate drinking, exercising regularly, and with healthy dietary habits. The population included 71,689 post-menopausal women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative observational study free of chronic diseases at baseline. Attendance and lifestyle behaviors information was collected at baseline using self-administered questionnaires. Healthy behaviors were modeled as a function of attendance using logistic regression. After adjustment for confounders, worship attendance (less than weekly, weekly, and more than weekly vs. never) was positively associated with use of preventive services [OR for mammograms: 1.34 (1.19, 1.51), 1.41 (1.26, 1.57), 1.33 (1.17, 1.52); breast self exams: 1.14 (1.02, 1.27), 1.33 (1.21, 1.48), 1.25 (1.1, 1.43); PAP smears: 1.22 (1.01, 1.47-weekly vs. none)]; non-smoking: [1.41 (1.35, 1.48), 1.76 (1.69, 1.84), 2.27 (2.15, 2.39)]; moderate drinking [1.35 (1.27, 1.45), 1.60 (1.52, 1.7), 2.19 (2.0, 2.4)]; and fiber intake [1.08 (1.03, 1.14), 1.16 (1.11, 1.22), 1.31 (1.23, 1.39), respectively], but not with regular exercise or with lower saturated fat and caloric intake. These findings suggest that worship attendance is associated with certain, but not all, healthy behaviors. Further research is needed to get a deeper understanding of the relationship between religious involvement and healthy lifestyle behaviors and of the inconsistent patterns in this association.
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RS are associated with salutary health behaviors.
“as well as salutary health behaviors (Benjamins, 2006; Salmoirago-Blotcher et al., 2011)”
From Advancing our understanding of religion and spirituality in the context of behavioral medicine (2017) · cites this paper as Salmoirago-Blotcher et al., 2011
Religious affiliation and participation is associated with salutary health behaviors, such as avoidance of alcohol, tobacco, and drug use as well as fewer sexual partners.
“it has long been noted that religious affiliation and participation is associated with salutary health behaviors, such as avoidance of alcohol, tobacco, and drug use as well as fewer sexual partners.15, 16”
From Religion, spirituality, and physical health in cancer patients: A meta‐analysis (2015) · cites this paper as [15]
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- Authors
- Salmoirago-Blotcher, E., Fitchett, G., Ockene, J. K., Schnall, E., Crawford, S., Granek, I., Manson, J., Ockene, I., O’Sullivan, M. J., Powell, L., & Rapp, S.
- Affiliations
- Rush University Medical Center (US)
- University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School (US)
- Yeshiva University (US)
- Stony Brook University (US)
- Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
- University of Miami (US)
- Wake Forest University Health Sciences (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Behavioral Medicine
- Published
- 2011-02-08
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 360-371
- ISSN
- 0160-7715 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-3521
- OpenAlex
- W2001490298
- Cited by
- 81
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 41 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 2.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Journal of Behavioral Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network (American Medical Association) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (n01wh22110-38-0-0, N01-WH-2-2110)
- U.S. Public Health Service (44221, 32122, 24152, 42107-26, 42129-32, 32118-32119, 32100-2, 32105-6, 32108-9, 32111-13, 32115)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Religion and Society Interactions
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Contemporary Christian Leadership and Education
- Keywords
- religious service attendance, religious involvement, healthy lifestyle behaviors, postmenopausal women, preventive medicine, mammography, breast self-examination, Pap smear, smoking, alcohol consumption, dietary fiber, physical activity, Women's Health Initiative
- MeSH terms
- Attitude to Health, Female, Humans, Life Style, Middle Aged, Religion and Medicine, Religion and Psychology, Cohort Studies, Health Behavior, Odds Ratio, Women's Health, Postmenopause
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