Relationships Among Religiosity, Physical Activity, and Sedentary Behavior in Jewish Adolescents

Because the effects of religion or religiosity on physical activity (PA) and sedentary activity (SA) are unknown, weekend accrual of PA and SA was measured among Jewish adolescents (N = 437) attending religious day schools in two large cities in the western United States. Participants completed the Self-Administered Physical Activity Checklist and demographic and religious questionnaire items. Orthodox respondents accrued less PA and SA on Saturday than the non-Orthodox; no differences on Sunday were found. Factor analysis of the religiosity items yielded three factors: observance, devotion, and doctrinal consonance. Correlation of factor scores with PA and SA revealed that observance was most strongly associated with accrual of PA and SA.