Faster Healing, Better Health, and Stronger Families

It’s been a while since I’ve shared any of my notes from Paul McFate, 52 Good Reasons to Go to Church, Besides the Obvious Ones (Chicago: ACTA Publications, 2004).  So here are a few more, all of which qualify for inclusion in your Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File:

• Faster Healing (page 41) — A 1990 study found that religiously committed, church-attending elderly women recovered more quickly from broken hips.  They spent less time in the hospital, could walk further upon release from the hospital, and suffered less depression than otherwise comparable but religiously uncommitted  patients. [P. Pressman, J. S. Lyons, D. B. Larson, and J. J. Strain, “Religious Belief, Depression, and Ambulation Status in Elderly Women with Broken Hips,” American Journal of Psychiatry 147/6 (1990): 758-760.]
• Less Premarital Sex Among Youth (page 42) — A study of 477 freshmen students at religious colleges found that teenagers who attended church frequently were only half as likely to engage in premarital sex as those who attended less than weekly.  And, obviously, this would result in fewer sexually transmitted diseases among them, and fewer out-of-wedlock pregnancies.  [J. T. Woodroof, “Premarital Sexual Behavior and Religious Adolescents,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 24 (1985): 343-366.]
• Fathers Spend More Time with Children (page 43) — In a study the results of which were published in 2001, conservative Christians seemed more likely to put family ahead of career.  Fathers were more involved with their children, not only at home but in both church-related activities but in non-church-related ones (e.g., Scouts, youth groups, and father-child events).  [J. P. Bartowski, W. B. Wilcox, and C. G. Ellison, “Parenting and Evangelical Families,” Hartford Institute for Religion Research (2001)]
• More Effective Child Discipline (page 44) — According to two articles on the subject, conservative Protestant parents were more likely to discipline children by spanking, but they were also less likely to yell at their children or to impose arbitrary punishments.  They were more prone to set clear expectations, to use corporal punishment only under well-defined circumstances, and to show leniency under mitigating circumstances.  Children subjected to such discipline did not appear to exhibit the characteristics typical of abuse or family dysfunction.  [J. P. Bartowski, W. B. Wilcox, and C. G. Ellison, “Parenting and Evangelical Families,” Hartford Institute for Religion Research (2001); C. G. Ellison, “Conservative Protestantism and the Parental Use of Corporal Punishment,” Social Forces 75 (1996): 1003-1028]
• Religion and Body Health (page 45) — Unfortunately, as a large-scale 1998 survey of 3497 adults illustrated, churchgoers tend to be heavier than the population average, and obesity is a strong predictor of both poor health and early death.  But the overall benefits of religious involvement appear to mitigate the negative effects of being overweight, at least to some degree.  And the best results for both happiness and health appear to emerge from a combination of religious practice with good health practices.  [K. F. Ferraro, “Firm Believers? Religion, Body Weight, and Well-Being,” Review of Religious Research 39 (1998): 224-244; J. E. Enstrom, “Cancer Mortality Among Mormons in California During 1968-1975,” Journal of the National Cancer Institute 65 (1980): 1073-1082]