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Religiosity, dietary habit, intake of fruit and vegetable, and vegetarian status among Seventh-Day Adventists in West Malaysia

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Abstract

Religion has been shown to be salutary on health, and a possible link between religion and positive health outcomes is diet. Research has shown that religiosity is associated with better diet but most studies were conducted in a multi-denominational context, which might be confounded with theological differences. This study examined the relationship between religiosity and diet within a homogenous group of believers. Data from survey of 574 Seventh-Day Adventists residing in West Malaysia, aged 18–80, were analyzed using multiple regressions. While none of the religious variables were significantly associated with fruit and vegetable intake, a higher level of religiosity was associated with a better dietary habit and vegetarian status. The mixed relationship between religiosity and diet suggest that further research is needed to explore how religion might influence the diet of adherents.

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Notes

  1. Non-Malay Bumiputras.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University, Sunway Campus, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 46150, Bandar Sunway, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

    Min-Min Tan & Daniel D. Reidpath

  2. School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, 1100 Nudgee Road, Banyo, QLD, 4014, Australia

    Carina K. Y. Chan

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  1. Min-Min Tan
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  2. Carina K. Y. Chan
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Correspondence to Min-Min Tan.

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Min-Min Tan, Carina K.Y. Chan and Daniel D. Reidpath declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures followed were in accordance with ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all participants for being included in the study.

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Tan, MM., Chan, C.K.Y. & Reidpath, D.D. Religiosity, dietary habit, intake of fruit and vegetable, and vegetarian status among Seventh-Day Adventists in West Malaysia. J Behav Med 39, 675–686 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-016-9736-8

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