Abstract P312: Association Between Religious Attendance And Obesity In African American And Afro-Caribbean Men

Abstract

Introduction: The increasing prevalence of obesity continues to be a public health concern in the United States (US). Religiosity, commonly characterized as the frequency of ritualistic practice and attendance at places of worship has been found to provide favorable cardiovascular health impacts including lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels; however, studies on the effect of religiosity on obesity have been mixed. Furthermore, national surveys have shown obesity prevalence to differ by ethnicity; foreign-born blacks have lower rates of obesity compared to US-born blacks. Research on a potential ethnic interaction on the impact of religious attendance on obesity has also been limited. Hypothesis: It is hypothesized that the association between religious attendance and obesity in black Americans may differ by ethnicity. Methods: Multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the association between religious attendance and obesity for African American (N = 1208) and Afro-Caribbean men (N = 628), 18 years and older, in the National Survey of American Life (2001-2003). Odds ratios (OR) of the association between religious attendance and adult obesity were estimated after adjusting for age, socioeconomic measures, health and lifestyle measures within regression models stratified by ethnicity. Results: The overall prevalence of obesity was 29.15% among African American men and 19.74% among Afro-Caribbean men. The prevalence of obesity among those who attended church weekly or more than weekly was 33.48% for African American men and 13.36% for Afro-Caribbean men. Afro-Caribbean men who attended church weekly or more than weekly had 48% lower odds of obesity than men who attended church less than weekly; age-adjusted OR = 0.52; 95%CI: (0.28, 0.98). The protective association of church attendance remained for Afro-Caribbean men after additionally adjusting for socioeconomic, health and lifestyle factors; adjusted OR = 0.40; 95%CI: (0.23, 0.67). No significant association between religious attendance and obesity was found for African American men. Conclusions: These findings suggest that religious attendance may be a protective factor for obesity among Afro-Caribbean men in the US. Since the prevalence of obesity among the foreign-born increases with length of US residency, religiosity may curb cardiovascular risk by lowering their body mass index trajectories across the life course.