Body Weight Perceptions in the Survey of Texas Adults: Religion, Race/Ethnicity, Citizenship Status, and Gender

• In Event: 165 - Section on Sociology of Religion Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 12. Religion and Coping Skills

Abstract

Factors that influence weight perceptions have been a focal point of analyses for health research in the past years. Despite the growing empirical evidence between the association of religious participation and health, little research has looked at the role of religion in affecting weight perceptions. Using the theoretical model developed by Levin (1995) and colleagues on the multidimensionality of religious participation, we develop several hypotheses and test them by using data from the Survey of Texas Adults. We use binary and multinomial logistic regression models, ran separately by gender, to estimate the odds of respondents perceiving themselves as overweight. Results indicate that for women, religious attendance results in lower odds of women perceiving themselves as very overweight, while high prayer frequency results in higher odds of seeing themselves as overweight. For men, religious salience predicted lower odds of feeling overweight, however this affect disappears once socioeconomic factors are controlled for. Citizenship status was an important factor for Hispanic women, with non-citizens being less likely to see themselves as overweight. Study limitations are identified and several promising directions for future research are discussed.

Authors

• Aida Isela Ramos-Wada, University of Texas-San Antonio

• Gabriel A Acevedo, University of Texas-San Antonio