Religious people are 'more likely to be overweight than atheist'

People of faith are more likely to be obese than the godless, a study has found. And with all their hot cross buns and chocolate advent calendars, Christians are the worst offenders of all.

A university researcher examined the body mass indexes (BMIs) of more than 7,000 people, and found those of believers were almost a point higher than those of atheists.

'Evidence of this association was strongest among those affiliated to a Christian religion,' said Dr Deborah Lycett, a senior lecturer in dietetics at Coventry University.

'A significantly higher waist-to-hip ratio was also seen in Christian and Sikh men.'

Although religious belief and health have been compared before in the U.S., the study is one of the first times the two have been examined together in Britain.

Writing in the Journal of Religion and Health, Dr Lycett said she studied 7,414 adults over 16 who were quizzed for the 2012 Health Survey for England.

She found the BMIs of those who described themselves as religious were on average 0.91kg per square metre higher.

People with a BMI between 18.5kg and 25kg per square metre have a healthy weight, and people with a BMI over 30 are classed as obese.

But the results were not universal across all religions. The most striking correlation was among Christians, she said, followed by Sikh men.

And appropriately enough, Buddhists - who aim to cleanse their minds of desire, which presumably includes pasties and pies - were found to have a healthier weight than non-believers.

'The association between religion and obesity is unclear and unexplored in the general English population,' Dr Lycett wrote.

'Some of this was explained demographically, but it was not accounted for by smoking status, alcohol consumption or physical activity level.

'Religious communities may need greater healthy weight promotion or benefit from tailored interventions built on their beliefs.'

The link between religion and health has been studied extensively in the U.S., where researchers believe the country's obesity crisis could be tackled through religious means.

One 2011 study of 5,500 people aged 45 to 84 found participants were more likely to be obese the more religiously active they were - from those who never worshipped to those who attended every week.

Obesity is on the rise in Britain, and not just among people of faith.

The proportion of obese men has risen from 13.2 to 24.4 per cent in the last 20 years, according to government statistics - with the proportion of men up from 16.4 to 25.1 per cent.

The huge rise has increased the strain on the NHS and on the patients themselves, as studies say obesity can shorten life by eight years and blight up to two decades with ill-health.

(dailymail.co.uk)