Faith Based Weight Loss
Friday, June 10th, 2011
Churches over the past decade have begun programs to teach their congregants how to lose weight. Some have installed gyms and started seminars on healthy living that are open free of charge to their members and invited guests. Others have eliminated pork and fried foods from the menus of their get-togethers as well as adding a lose weight fast bigger variety of outdoor activities to their children’s programs. This trend has caught on in the Baptist churches after Pastor Michael Minor—the pastor who banned fried chicken from the fellowship hall at his church in Mississippi—was given permission to start health initiatives in every congregation under the umbrella of the National Baptist Convention USA Inc.
Such initiatives work because members go to church on a weekly basis, so the pastors have more of a chance to reach them than healthcare workers do. Many African Americans especially either do not care for or do not trust doctors to have their best interests at heart, so they will often listen to their pastors when they might not be so inclined to heed doctors’ warnings.