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Health and Well-Being in Islamic Societies pp 217–241Cite as

Religiosity and Behavioral Health in Muslims

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Abstract

Health behaviors are key to understanding how religion affects health, and this is as true in Muslims as it is in Christians. Three health behaviors—regular exercise, eating a healthy diet to maintain an ideal body weight, and avoiding cigarette smoking—have been shown to reduce mortality by over 50 % over 10 years, may add as many as 14 years to a person’s life span, and can reduce chronic diseases by nearly 80 %. Indeed, about one-third of religion’s effect on health is thought to be due to better health behavior by those who are religious. In this chapter we review the relationships between religiosity and cigarette smoking, physical activity, exercise, diet, weight, and sexual behavior in Muslims and also compare Muslims and non-Muslims in this regard. There has not been much research in Muslims on some of these topics, but we review what has been published thus far.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Harold G. Koenig

  2. King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Harold G. Koenig & Saad Al Shohaib

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  1. Harold G. Koenig
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  2. Saad Al Shohaib
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Koenig, H.G., Shohaib, S.A. (2014). Religiosity and Behavioral Health in Muslims. In: Health and Well-Being in Islamic Societies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05873-3_10

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