A weighty religious issue: LDS heavier

OREM — Utah's religious divide appears to have a physical as well as spiritual side — LDS Church members on average weigh 4.6 pounds more than their counterparts in other religions.

A recently completed study shows that Utah, and particularly its LDS population — for many years seen as a bastion of health in a nation where fitness is on a steady decline — is slipping, especially around the waistline.

The study, involving a cross section of Utah adults from different religions over a nine-year period, also found that LDS Church members are 14 percent more likely (18 percent for males, 9 percent for females) to be obese than their non-LDS counterparts.

The study was compiled by BYU health science professor Ray Merrill, who gathered the data from figures obtained in 1996, 2001 and 2003-2004 by the Utah Health Status Survey.

The most recent numbers, while still high, showed there has been some improvement since 1996, when LDS adults were found to be 5.7 pounds heavier on average and 34 percent more likely to be obese.

Merrill's study suggests LDS Church members may be using excessive eating as a substitute for other socially accepted sources of enjoyment, like smoking and drinking, that the church prohibits.

"For years, the church has focused on the don'ts — don't smoke, don't drink, and all the other things that you shouldn't do that are heavily enforced," said Steve Aldana, a BYU professor who presented some of the study's findings at a recent heart conference at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.

"There has been little emphasis on the do's — eat good foods and exercise," he continued. "In the church, we have a lot of don'ts, and now finally here's a do — go ahead and do eat — and boy, do we eat."

Aldana, a health and human performance professor at BYU, wants to bridge the gap between teaching Americans about healthy habits and actually adopting them. Last year, he penned "The Culprit & The Cure," a book intended to help people make that transition.

The weight problem for LDS Church members is part of a growing trend both in the state and in the nation as a whole, Aldana said.

"It's been a slow and gradual trend, and now when we stop and take a look, this is where we are . . . this has crept up on us, and now it's dramatic," he said.