A new study by Angus Deaton (Princeton University) uses Gallup World Poll data from 146 countries to analyze the relationship between being religious and one’s health. He concludes that religious people – especially men – are healthier than those who are not religious. In fact, there are some “startling differences in health outcomes and health behaviors by religiosity.”
A person’s religiosity is measured by their answers to two questions about religion (“Is religion an important part of your daily life?”) and religious observance (“Have you attended a place of worship or religious service within the last seven days?”)
- Religious people say they have more energy, their health is better, and they experience less pain.
- Their social lives and personal behaviors are also healthier.
- They are more likely to be married, to have supportive friends and are more likely to report being treated with respect.
- They have greater confidence in the healthcare and medical system and are less likely to smoke.
He also finds that women are generally more religious than men and that the elderly are generally more religious than the young.
He concludes with this statement:
None of the results show that the health benefits of religion can be obtained simply by joining a church, or even by undertaking a serious conversion. People who are religious are almost certainly different from non-religious people in ways that go beyond their religiosity and beyond the basic educational and demographic controls that are used here. Even so, some of the correlations presented here are remarkably universal across the religions and countries of the world, and need to explained and better understood.
Your thoughts?
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My thought is that it can be summarized and explained in one word, “Hope.” But, I’m not sure that scientists would accept that without further detail and explanation.
I found this article very interesting, there is no provable or scientific reason as to why religious people are healthier only speculation and belief. And yest Heidi, the big “H”, hope.
I personally feel that religious people are more disciplined than non religious people. Which supports the fact that bodies are viewed as temples and should be treated with love and care (in every area), therefore for instance, marriage is more appealing than multiple relationships which promotes a healthy moral, ethichal, personal belief systems which meets religious need eliminating in my opinion one of the most stressed over areas of life besides love and money.