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Receiving Support, Giving Support, Neighborhood Conditions, and Waist/Hip Ratios

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Abstract

Obesity is a major health problem in the USA, and as a result, it is important to identify the factors that help people keep their body weight within healthy limits. The purpose of this study was to see whether receiving support at church and giving support at church buffer (i.e., moderate) the effects of living in rundown neighborhoods on a key marker of obesity—waist/hip ratios (WHR). The data are provided from a recent nationwide survey of people age 18 and older (N = 1456). The findings reveal that giving support to fellow church members tends to offset the effects of living in dilapidated neighborhoods on WHR. In contrast, receiving support from coreligionists does not appear to perform a similar stress-moderating function. The theoretical underpinnings of providing support at church are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2029, USA

    Neal Krause

  2. University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA

    Gail Ironson

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  1. Neal Krause
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  2. Gail Ironson
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Correspondence to Neal Krause.

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Dr. Krause and Dr. Ironson declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Krause, N., Ironson, G. Receiving Support, Giving Support, Neighborhood Conditions, and Waist/Hip Ratios. J Relig Health 55, 1123–1135 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0182-2

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