An exercise in faith

It took the most alarming kind of wake-up call to make Glovioell Rowland, assistant pastor at the Pasadena Church of God, realize something had to be done: “It was the number of funerals,” she says. “People were dying of diabetes and strokes in their 50s, and we got tired of burying people prematurely. But we know that there’s a solution.”

The solution was convincing the congregation to eat healthier and exercise more, but to do it in a way that had meaning beyond the usual nagging messages. “I tell people,” says Rowland, “that God didn’t place us in a pig pen, but in a garden. Let’s cut out this fatty-meat eating and increase our fruits and vegetables.”

It’s an idea that African American churches are trying to get across to their congregations and the larger community, as rates of obesity and related diseases such as diabetes and heart disease climb to disturbing proportions. According to a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study released last month in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., African Americans have the highest rates of obesity, 31.1%, and diabetes, 11.2%, compared with other ethnic groups.

Although faith-based health programs have been around for some time, many churches were limited by funds. But growing awareness of serious health problems and additional grant programs have recently jump-started some churches into action.

The California Nutrition Network, sponsored by the California Department of Health Services and with guidance from the African American 5-a-Day Advisory Council, has been offering grants to African American churches and other faith-based agencies since 1998. Twelve churches and three other faith-based groups around the state receive grants from $37,500 to $50,000 a year to implement fitness classes, cooking demonstrations, nutrition education (which sometimes includes field trips to grocery stores), disease-screening programs, after-school classes, and health and fitness fairs. Church leaders are encouraged to work with area grocers and restaurants to persuade them to offer healthier foods, as well as network with other churches to help them start or bolster their health programs. The program also supports efforts to weave wellness messages into sermons and Bible study. Churches are making significant changes within their own walls, replacing cookies with fruit at get-togethers, adding 10-minute stretch and exercise sessions during meetings, and even swapping high-fat vending machine snacks for more nourishing ones.

It seems to be working. At the Pasadena Church of God one recent Saturday, Jeannette Nash talked about the changes her family has made toward a healthier lifestyle, thanks to the church’s cooking demonstrations and walking programs.

“We started walking together, and she has a bike now,” says Nash, looking over at her 12-year-old daughter LaTrice. Both have been trying to lose weight and change their eating habits. “We cut out a lot of the grease and junk food, and we buy more fruits and vegetables,” she says.

Valarie Scruggs, communications specialist with the Department of Health Services, explains the idea behind the grant program: “African American churches have historically been the strongest institution in the community,” she says, “and while churches have been primarily concerned with spiritual health, now they’re becoming concerned about physical health.”

At Loveland Church in Rialto, Gordon Laine oversees a 6,000-square-foot facility called Total Wellness Systems, which houses weight and cardiovascular workout equipment, nutrition programs and classes such as gospel kickboxing.

Laine, the church’s health and fitness pastor, says the program has already outgrown the space and is looking for larger quarters. “It’s really difficult to be at church now,” he says, “because when I go through the congregation (made up of 2,000 families) there are at least 10 to 15 people who say, ‘I need you.’ I can’t tell you how many people over the years have changed their life, lost weight and gotten off medication.”

Despite the successes of the five-year-old program, Laine admits it’s been difficult to persuade some people to renounce their favorite fatty foods and trade sofa-lounging for exercise. But even the smallest changes can be beneficial. “The atmosphere here,” he adds, “is conducive to making a lifestyle change. The support is here.”

That support is one advantage the church seems to have over more impersonal health and fitness programs or even commercial gyms -- members may feel more comfortable confiding in a pastor rather than a doctor. A place of worship also offers a feeling of belonging, as well as a protected environment.

At the Baptist Church of the New Covenant in Norwalk, about a dozen women meet each Monday for “praise dance,” a two-hour class that mixes stretching and exercise, nutrition and fitness information, plus prayer, reading from the Scriptures and a chance to “share things, such as family or health issues,” says Scarlett S. Small, director of the church’s Faith and Fitness program. “You get a sense that people are really caring,” she says.

“When you look at studies to see what sustains good behavior, social support is one thing that always pops up,” says Dr. Antronette Yancey, an associate professor of health services at UCLA’s school of public health. “But there’s also an important need to change the social environment, and that’s what these churches are doing. They’re getting people to make incremental changes, as opposed to having them face some huge standard they don’t feel they can meet.”

All church leaders agree there’s more to do, and the Nutrition Network will be taking new grant applications in April. “We’re dying in disproportionate numbers,” says Small. “No one is going to live forever, but the improved quality of life is what we’re trying to achieve. When the message comes from the pulpit, people listen.”