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By Trina Daniels

While visiting a church recently, a severely obese pastor delivered a sermon. I had a tough time listening to the sermon about the failure of “Christians to witness.” I fell into the sin of judging him based on his obesity. As I glanced around the congregation, the majority of the people were overweight. I’m only human and couldn’t help but wonder why there wasn’t a message being taught about taking care of the bodies God has given us.

Overeating seems to be one of the sins which most pastors, Christians, reverends, and priests overlook. If “gluttony is a sin,” why is “Christian America” one of the “fattest nations“? It’s a serious issue which is seldom discussed despite a growing number of “christian” based weight loss programs.

We have people suffering everyday from diseases associated with overeating; where changing eating habits and adding exercise can make a difference. A 1998 Purdue University study suggests that Christians are the fattest and Southern Baptists are among the fattest of them all. Is overeating a sin? Is eating too much a way of damaging “our temple”? Is it true that poor people are fatter? Is it true that the south is heavier because there’s more poverty and more conservative Christians? Are Christians really fatter? Is being FAT caused by our culture, environment, religion, genes, lifestyle, region or economics?

I’d like to exercise more, eat healthier and drop a few pounds! I’m working on it. The extra pounds and unhealthy habits didn’t come on overnight and since I want them changed forever, the “cold-turkey” change won’t work for me. I’d like to encourage others to consider the food we’re consuming and to take it seriously.

To me, this means putting the best food on the table that I can afford to purchase or grow myself. It means buying locally, growing organic and practicing sustainable living whenever possible. While I can’t purchase everything organic, I purchase certain products to be sure they don’t have the harmful chemicals, antibiotics or growth hormones added. I watch labels and purchase less chemicals, sugars and processed foods. I notice where the products are from and try to buy locally or regionally as often as possible. It also means adding daily exercise to my life. It also means eating a balanced diet with the proper amount of fat, carbs, vegetables, fruits and protein.

Obesity is a serious problem and we can’t afford to continue overlooking it.