"Does Religious Service Attendance Modify the Relationship between Everyday Discrimination and Risk of Obesity? Results from the Study on Stress, Spirituality and Health"

Abstract

This study examined the association of everyday discrimination with risk of obesity and the potential modifying effect of religious service attendance. Participants included Black, South Asian, and white women in three cohort studies that belong to the Study on Stress, Spirituality and Health. Logistic regression models estimated odds of obesity classification (BMI ≥ 30) relative to experiences of everyday discrimination. In initial pooled analyses, high levels of discrimination were related to increased odds of obesity. Race-specific analyses revealed marginal associations for white and South Asian women. Among Black women, high levels of discrimination and religious service attendance were both associated with higher odds of obesity. However, among women who attended religious services frequently, higher levels of everyday discrimination were associated with slightly lower odds of obesity. These findings underline the complex association between obesity and religion/spirituality, suggesting that higher levels of discrimination may uniquely activate religious resources or coping strategies. Findings highlight the need for additional studies to examine the impact of everyday discrimination on risk of obesity across racial/ethnic communities and how religious practices or coping strategies might affect these dynamics.

Keywords: Attendance; Black Women’s Health Study; Discrimination; Mediators of Atherosclerosis among South Asians Living in America; Nurses’ Health Study II; Obesity; Race/Ethnicity; Religion; Spirituality.

Fig. 1

Predicted probabilities of obesity for a married, 40-year-old Black woman with varying levels of church attendance (covariates fixed at mean levels). Note: See Table 5, model 3