Can We Create a More Health-Oriented and Less Food-Centric Culture?
Q: Does being frum put one at greater risk of obesity?
A: When it comes to religion and health, there’s an odd paradox. Religion tends to be somewhat protective of health, except when it comes to weight. People who participate in religious activities tend to smoke less and have better general health and lower overall mortality rates. But religious adults also tend to be more obese.
A recent study from Northwestern University, published in American Journal of Preventive Medicine, followed over 2,000 adults for eighteen years and discovered that those who participated in frequent religious activities—defined as at least once a week in this study—were 30 percent more likely to be obese than those who didn’t. One possible explanation for this increased risk is the emphasis on food at religious events with little discussion of moderation.
“It’s hard to go a week without hearing that we need to be learning more Torah, but you can go years without hearing a rabbi say we need to exercise.”
True, this study did not exclusively examine frum people. But the emphasis on food certainly applies to frum life. We’ve seen myriad articles addressing our religion’s heavy food-centric culture. (Case in point: Rabbi Reuven Spolter’s “Is Orthodoxy Unhealthy?” Jewish Action [spring 2011].) Additionally, there are other aspects of the frum lifestyle that present challenges to maintaining a healthy weight.
“Making time for things like exercise is very difficult,” says Dr. Mendel Singer, associate professor of public health at Case Western Reserve University and director of the Jewish Community Health Initiative. “Frum people’s lives are overwhelming. With work, doing homework with the kids, going out and learning in the evening—when do you exercise? And where do you exercise? Co-ed gyms are out for many Orthodox people.”
Putting Your Mind to It
Mindful eating—a movement that trains you to tune into your eating habits—may help improve your health without dieting. Principles of mindful eating mirror the way we as Jews should look at food and eating. For example, we’re taught as youngsters to make a berachah to thank Hashem for the food we eat. Mindful eating helps bring to mind that gratitude we should feel to our Creator by focusing on the taste and texture and the overall enjoyable experience of eating.
Mindful eating is what it sounds like: it teaches you to slow down and be aware of everything about eating, from the food itself to how you feel—whether you are hungry or not and other motivations for eating—all in a non-judgmental way. The theory is that if you only eat mindfully, you’ll reduce unwanted calories from “automatic eating” (think eating directly out of a big container or while talking on the phone) and will feel satisfied more quickly, leading to weight loss. Research thus far shows mindful eating training may be a particularly effective therapy for people who struggle with binge-eating.
One of the main hindrances to following a healthy lifestyle, however, may be the fact that it’s simply not stressed, suggests Dr. Singer. “It’s hard to go a week without hearing that we need to be learning more Torah, but you can go years without hearing a rabbi say we need to exercise.”
One need only look to the Torah for assurance of the value of healthy living. Multiple sources instruct us to protect our health, including the oft-cited “Venishmartem meod lenafshoteichem” (Devarim 4:15). “Health is a true value, a halachic obligation,” says Dr. Singer. “We need to prioritize it.”
The Northwestern study highlights a potential solution for religious people who participate in regular religious activities: those places we congregate for spiritual endeavors can become forums for emphasizing the importance of health. Shuls are ideal venues for giving over nutrition and health information. People come together to listen to the rabbi speak multiple times per week, a great opportunity to reiterate the importance of moderating food intake and getting physical activity. These points need not be the premise of the whole lecture, but they can certainly be worked in occasionally.
Shuls can also host events that support embracing a healthier lifestyle—such as health fairs and lectures by health-care providers. If a shul member successfully lost and maintained his weight, why not invite him to share his story, lending encouragement to the congregation’s disheartened dieters? Overeating or other health-support groups can meet in the synagogue; healthy recipes and tips can be passed along the shul’s chain of communication, be it a printed newsletter or an e-mail listserv. Shuls can support healthful eating as well by modifying the food served at events, especially at the weekly kiddush.
Even if being frum puts us at greater risk of obesity (and the jury’s still out on that, since Orthodox Jews and obesity haven’t been studied specifically, to my knowledge), we cannot throw up our hands and resign ourselves to lives of paunch and piety. We all know devout individuals who are able to maintain a healthy lifestyle, eating wholesome foods and getting regular physical activity—even sufficient sleep—without forfeiting religious ideals. In fact, these goals become part of their religious ideals. We need to work, as a community, to create an environment that’s more conducive to leading healthy lifestyles.
Shira Isenberg is a registered dietitian and writer with a private nutrition practice in Nashville, Tennessee. She has a master’s degree in public health nutrition from Hunter College in New York.
Listen to Dr. Mendel Singer speak about obesity in the frum community: http://www.ou.org/life/health/physical-health/orthodox-jews-less-obese-than-the-rest-of-world-stephen-savitsky/.
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Dear Shira, the editors, and readers, Thanks for this important article. Noticing since this was written in 2012, brings me to wonder – what has changed in almost a decade? A lot. But one thing is for sure, not only is obesity still an issue in religious communities – eating disorders are up there too. did you know, EDs are twice as prominent in religious Jewish communities? It is precisely because our observance involves food and we live in times of abundance that we get tripped up – how do we learn to mindfully eat, as the article explains? How… Read more »
I came across your letter on the website responding to overweight and eD. I have two boys aged 12 and 19 who are extremely overweight. I am really concerned about my 12 yr old. I have taken him the regular route, dieticians and Drs. I have been looking for a more support group like program. I know they are out there for woman, I have been on one or two and there are some for men, but no one really seems to know about any for kids. anyway, I live in israel, and I have been searching the net looking… Read more »
While we tried hard to limit our children’s access to sugar, we were consistently thwarted by our children getting candy in school as a reward for good answers as well as in shul by well intentioned “candy men .” shul. I realize that ‘sweetness’ has a long and storied association with Torah learning, but we need to pay more attention to our children’s health ..
This article was written 10 years ago and since that time things have changed where I live in Toronto Canada. There are more Same Sex exercise venues and also Same Sex personal trainers and private gyms than 10 years ago. The Moslem women have seen that the local city swimming pools have “ladies only hours”. It all start with young girls trying to look “thin as a stick” for the shidduch market and all that entails. Drinking Booze and with every shot adding “Le Chaim” to LIFE?????? is really moranic. Booze is in no way Life Enhancing. At our shul… Read more »
Let’s see, from 1st grade onward we have our kids sit in their seats for 8 hours a day with brief breaks to eat unhealthy snacks. Rewards are usually with food. Kids watch their parents stuff their faces at kiddish after sitting through a three hour ravening. I can go on and on. None of what I mentioned is required by halacha and these are all fixable issues. But I have tried to call for change only to be shot down. We do this to ourselves.
As a frum Jew, I think wehave a definite advantage when it comes to eating unhealthy or high calorie food. We already have fantastic willpower when it comes to eating nonkosher food. Think of using that same process when it comes to over-eating or avoiding unhealthy food
My children are currently in camp and are daily plied with more sugar and candy than we eat all year. My 3 year old used to call sugar snap peas candy and now he made a fake burger out of cake with Laffy Taffy lettuce and jelly bean tomatoes. Their peers are used to it and regularly bring junk instead of healthy food. They aren’t given enough time to eat a healthy lunch, nor are they encouraged to drink water, and I’ve started sending them juice with lunch just to ensure they don’t get dehydrated. Most kids get soda or… Read more »
Shira, thank you for this great article. One issue that is rarely discussed in the Jewish community is our tendency toward type II diabetes as we age. This is true even of people who are careful to eat very reasonable portions. Many of us also find it hard to lose weight even if we eat a carefully portioned Weight Watcher type diet (I am one of those people). This is often an issue of insulin oversecretion Everyone who is overweight should consider getting a glucose tolerance test and insulin secretion test (fasting insulin and insulin level after a glucose challenge).… Read more »