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by Seba Martínez February 2006 According to a story published February 14 in the Deseret News, LDS Church members on average weigh 4.6 pounds more than non-Mormons. The study, involving a cross section of Utah adults from different religions over a nine-year period, also found that LDS Church members are 14 percent more likely (18 percent for males, 9 percent for females) to be obese than their non-LDS counterparts. The study was compiled by BYU health science professor Ray Merrill, who gathered the data from figures obtained in 1996, 2001 and 2003-2004 by the Utah Health Status Survey. The most recent numbers, while still high, showed there has been some improvement since 1996, when LDS adults were found to be 5.7 pounds heavier on average and 34 percent more likely to be obese. Merrill's study suggests LDS Church members may be using excessive eating as a substitute for other socially accepted sources of enjoyment, like smoking and drinking, that the church prohibits. "For years, the church has focused on the don'ts—don't smoke, don't drink, and all the other things that you shouldn't do that are heavily enforced," said Steve Aldana, a BYU professor who presented some of the study's findings at a recent heart conference at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. "There has been little emphasis on the do's - eat good foods and exercise," he continued. "In the church, we have a lot of don'ts, and now finally here's a do - go ahead and do eat—and boy, do we eat."
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