I can't tell you how sinfully gratifying I find these data. Well, I just did tell you, because I cannot lie; but I'm embarrassed by my meanness. It's not that I don't care about the ruined lives that generate these numbers; if I met an overweight, diabetic stroke victim suffering from a broken marriage, the death of an infant and the loss of a loved one to a syphilitic killer I would be moved to tears and would want to help. It's just that, as an agnostic member of the Yankee media elite, a group often generically denounced by Dixie's faithful, I am pleased how nicely the stats seem to damn those who revile me. (In my petty meanness I am bypassing all those who don't revile me but suffer anyway ----one of more disgusting hypocrisies of the Yankee media elite, though we hardly hold a monopoly on it.)

So tempting is it to blame biblical literalism for the Bible Belt's defects, that I have found a way to do it, which I will share presently. But being something of a science fan I am also obliged to consider that church, or God, or fundamentalism may be the enabler rather than the prime mover behind physical decay and moral perversion in the Bible-thumping states. The truly satanic force may be something less grandiose; fish fingers, say, or chicken nuggets. 

We have all been warned by now that the typical Southern church-goer's diet of fast food supplemented with frequent church-sponsored feasts featuring home-cooked fluffy biscuits, fried fish, fried chicken, fried steak, fries, and voluminous sugary pies, not to mention mountains of potatoes smothered in white gravy and macaroni larded with mayonnaise---is a diet upon which no loving god can smile.

But can popcorn shrimp or an extra helping of shoo-fly pie explain a region's inclination towards violence---spousal abuse, child abuse, murder and the like? Oddly, to some extent it might, because there is increasing evidence that Bible Belt Diet mortifies more than the flesh. For example, two double-blind studies of prison populations so far have shown a strong correlation between nutritional deficiencies, particularly of Omega-3, and violent behavior. (5, A&B)

In the original study led by Bernard Gesch, the prison officials ---who didn't know who among the young offenders was getting a pill containing vitamins-plus-Omega-3s and who was getting a placebo---consistently reported over 30% fewer incidents of violent behavior from the nutritional supplement takers. That doesn't mean that each individual was a third less violent; but in a group of violence-prone juveniles chosen otherwise at random, some or all of the group getting adequate nutrition were able to tune their craziness down enough to change the social climate of the institution significantly. 

So far no one can explain the nature of the statistical synchronicity between proper nutrition and reduced violence. In a later test that sought to reproduce Gesch's results, the prisoners' impulsivity and anger did not noticeably drop when their nutrition was improved, but the number of violent acts did---and  roughly as much. So maybe the sort of impulsive acts that transmit STDs won't be affected by  by normalizing a population's vitamin and nutrient intake. For that sort of harmful behavior, you might want to look to the fundamentalist aversion to fact-based sex education and the South's way of styling relations between bulls and belles.

Still, the possible implication of vitamin and Omega-3 deficiencies in even a fraction of the Bible Belt's  violent pathologies is interesting to consider. Last February CBS mused aloud: "Fried Fish to Blame for Southern 'Stroke Belt'"?  Network reporters cited a study published in the journal, Neurology, (6) that found:   

"... that along with a higher consumption of fried fish, people living in the stroke belt are less likely to have an adequate intake of non-fried fish, defined in the study as two or more servings of non-fried fish per week based on guidelines from the American Heart Association." (7)

Because the Omega-6s in seed oils, like corn, safflower, etc. tend to replace or nullify the Omega-3s in, say, fish, fried fish eaters don't get the Omega-3s from eating fish that poachers and broilers do. Science cites Gesch, claiming that Omega-3 deficiency has been tied to "Impaired attention...reduced memory, impaired cognition, depression, and excess inflammation."

So when some young man on personal speaking terms with his Lord beats his spouse or shoots a rival, he might have a case if he blames his evil ways on deep-fried catfish, though admittedly he'd need a very good lawyer to make the alibi stick.

Whether or not the social costs of the Bible Belt Diet are as dire as the medical ones, several synergistic factors make the church supper habit particularly difficult to kick, none of which can be blamed on ham, grits and chips. 

----- Church complicity.  Most southern churches have been inactive when it comes to fighting the obesity epidemic sweeping their congregations. This sinful neglect of congregants' health may not be consciously motivated, but in institutions that frown on smoking, drinking, recreational sex and party drugs---bans that generally lengthen the lives of those that observe them---comfort food and the fellowship of communal feasting act as both lures and rewards. God may be great, but a church picnic's potato salad is worth leaving the house for. (8)

     If Christian pro-life values falter when it comes to encouraging life-shortening obesity, Christian decency is double-edged in this department as well. According to Karen Hye-cheon Kim at Cornell's Division of Nutrituion, religious people for the most part are more forgiving (and self-forgiving) than others of physical deformities, including excess weight. Sadly, such tolerance can be as indulgently enabling for gluttons as it is justly forgiving of genetically heavy people. (9)

     Community---one of the church's great boons---has yet another demonic side if curbing obesity is your goal. Body weight ---fat or thin---has been shown to be "contagious" between friends and acquaintances, even across distances. One common explanation for this is that the more "normal" obesity appears to people, the more inclined towards it they will be. Others contest this, speculating that people who eat together imitate companionable behavior---like bringing rich, super-pleasing food to a potluck or taking second helpings. (10) 

As churchgoers get heavier, in either case, other church goers will tend to get heavier, too.    

-----Biblical literalism.  Among many Southern Christians a popular world view conflating a highly edited sacred text with their god's eternal views, is also an impediment to easing the region's problems. Worshippers who are encouraged to view scientists as deluded and ungodly might find the admonishments of health professionals less salient. The Bible, alas, does not recommend regular exercise and a diet heavy on greens. Those who view the body as a temple can as easily lavish it with meaty offerings as purify it with green tea and kale.