Affiliations 

  • 1 Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University, Sunway Campus, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 46150, Bandar Sunway, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. minmin.tan@gmail.com
  • 2 School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, 1100 Nudgee Road, Banyo, QLD, 4014, Australia
  • 3 Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University, Sunway Campus, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 46150, Bandar Sunway, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
J Behav Med, 2016 08;39(4):675-86.
PMID: 27010212 DOI: 10.1007/s10865-016-9736-8

Abstract

Religion has been shown to be salutary on health, and a possible link between religion and positive health outcomes is diet. Research has shown that religiosity is associated with better diet but most studies were conducted in a multi-denominational context, which might be confounded with theological differences. This study examined the relationship between religiosity and diet within a homogenous group of believers. Data from survey of 574 Seventh-Day Adventists residing in West Malaysia, aged 18-80, were analyzed using multiple regressions. While none of the religious variables were significantly associated with fruit and vegetable intake, a higher level of religiosity was associated with a better dietary habit and vegetarian status. The mixed relationship between religiosity and diet suggest that further research is needed to explore how religion might influence the diet of adherents.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.