title: True Believers? Religion, Physiology, and Perceived Body Weight in Texas.
abstract: This paper examines relationships between body weight, religion, and gender while controlling for relevant covariates and body mass index (BMI), a measure of physical/biological body type. Using data from the 2004 Survey of Texas Adults (n = 1,504), we present results of ordered logistic regression models which indicate that religious factors work distinctly for men and women when controlling for BMI. While church attendance is associated with lower odds of overweight perceptions among women, it is religious salience that is associated with lower odds of self-reported excess weight in men. Implications for research which associates religious and physiological factors are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University, 211 Oswald Tower, University Park, PA, 16802, USA, alr349@psu.edu.
authors.forename: Andrea L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.forename: Gabriel A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Acevedo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013781:Texas; D055815:Young Adult