Religious involvement is closely associated with longer life and a wide range of positive health outcomes, according to a new report.
The findings come from a new report released by the Wheatley Institute at Brigham Young University. Titled “The Religion and Physical Health Connection: What Does the Best Science Reveal?”, the publication is the second report in the institute’s three-part “Religion and Human Flourishing” series.
Researchers examined 1,000 peer-reviewed studies featured in the 2024 edition of the “Handbook of Religion and Health,” one of the leading academic resources on the subject. Of those studies, 876 identified positive associations between religious engagement and health, while only 124 reported negative outcomes.
One of the strongest patterns involved life expectancy. According to the review, 83% of studies examining religious service attendance found that regular participation was linked to increased longevity. The data suggested that frequent attendance was associated with roughly a 34% lower risk of death.
Among the studies cited was a large-scale analysis involving more than 20,000 adults. Researchers found that individuals who regularly attended religious services lived an average of 7.6 years longer than those who did not attend. The difference was even greater among black Americans, reaching nearly 13.7 additional years of life.
“These are not fringe findings from a handful of studies — they reflect a consistent pattern across hundreds of the most rigorous investigations in the field,” said Loren D. Marks, the report's lead author and a professor in Brigham Young University's School of Family Life, in a statement shared with The Christian Post.
“The data indicate that religious involvement is one of the most robust predictors of better physical health outcomes available in the research literature, and it deserves far greater attention in public health conversations.”
The review also identified a number of health-related behaviors that appear to be influenced by religious commitment. Nearly all studies examining smoking habits found lower tobacco use among people with higher levels of religiosity.
In addition, researchers reported lower rates of substance abuse, addiction, stroke and related conditions among religious individuals. The evidence also pointed to stronger immune system function and healthier regulation of stress-related hormones.
“After four decades of research and thousands of studies, the pattern is remarkably clear: religious involvement is associated with better physical health across virtually every domain we've examined,” said Harold Koenig, a co-author of the review.
“These are not isolated findings — they represent one of the most consistent relationships in all of health science.”
