Some studies suggest that religiosity may be related to health outcomes. The current investigation, involving 92,395 Women's Health Initiative Observational Study participants, examined the prospective association of religious affiliation, religious service attendance, and strength and comfort from religion with subsequent cardiovascular outcomes and death. Baseline characteristics and responses to religiosity questions were collected at enrollment. Women were followed for an average of 7.7 years and outcomes were judged by physician adjudicators. Cox proportional regression models were run to obtain hazard ratios (HR) of religiosity variables and coronary heart disease (CHD) and death. After controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, and prior health variables, self-report of religious affiliation, frequent religious service attendance, and religious strength and comfort were associated with reduced risk of all-cause mortality [HR for religious affiliation = 0.84; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.75-0.93] [HR for service attendance = 0.80; CI: 0.73-0.87] [HR for strength and comfort = 0.89; CI: 0.82-0.98]. However, these religion-related variables were not associated with reduced risk of CHD morbidity and mortality. In fact, self-report of religiosity was associated with increased risk of this outcome in some models. In conclusion, although self-report measures of religiosity were not associated with reduced risk of CHD morbidity and mortality, these measures were associated with reduced risk of all-cause mortality.

The cultural diversity literature largely ignores the effects of religion, and especially Judaism, on counseling and psychotherapy. The author reviews the meager and mostly anecdotal accounts relating to Orthodox Jews in the literature of several related disciplines, including counseling, social work, psychology, and psychiatry. The objective is to identify the barriers, institutional and personal, that must be overcome before the Orthodox Jew can receive adequate mental health care and to suggest recommendations for clinical practice.

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The current study is a 25‐year follow‐up to a mental health needs assessment in the often overlooked, but rapidly growing, Orthodox Jewish denomination. Results suggest increased acceptance of mental illness and its treatment and satisfaction with quality of care, along with decreased mistrust of the mental health field, belief that religion and psychiatry conflict, and tendency to attach stigmas to psychiatric problems. However, issues of stigma and affordability continue to be obstacles to treatment. El presente estudio es un seguimiento tras 25 años de una evaluación de necesidades de salud mental en la población frecuentemente ignorada, pero en crecimiento rápido, de individuos de denominación judía ortodoxa. Los resultados sugieren una mayor aceptación de enfermedades mentales y sus tratamientos, así como la satisfacción con la calidad de los cuidados, además de una reducción en la desconfianza hacia el campo de la salud mental, la creencia de que existe un conflicto entre religión y psiquiatría, y la tendencia a estigmatizar los problemas psiquiátricos. Sin embargo, problemas relacionados con la asequibilidad y el estigma continúan siendo obstáculos para el tratamiento.

Background Over 23 million Americans have type 2 diabetes (T2D). Eating habits such as breakfast consumption, time-restricted eating and limiting daily eating occasions have been explored as behaviors for reducing T2D risk, but prior evidence is inconclusive. Objective To examine associations between number of daily eating occasions and T2D risk in the Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial (WHI-DM) and whether associations vary by body mass index (BMI), age, or race/ethnicity. Methods Participants were postmenopausal women in the WHI-DM who comprised a 4.6% subsample completing 24-hour dietary recalls (24HR) at years 3 and 6 as part of trial adherence activities (n = 2,159). Numbers of eating occasions/day were obtained from the year 3 24HR and participants were grouped into approximate tertiles as 1–3 (n = 795), 4 (n = 713) and ≥ 5 (n = 651) daily eating occasions as the exposure. Incident diabetes was self-reported on semi-annual questionnaires as the outcome. WHI-DM is registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT00000611). Results Fifteen % (15.4%, n = 332) of the WHI-DM 24HR cohort reported incident diabetes at follow-up Cox proportional hazards regression tested associations of eating occasions with T2D adjusted for neighborhood socioeconomic status (NSES), BMI, waist circumference, race/ethnicity, family history of T2D, recreational physical activity, Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2005, 24HR energy intake and WHI-DM arm. Compared to women reporting 1–3 meals/day, those consuming 4 meals/day had a T2D HR = 1.38 (95%CI 1.03–1.84) without further increases in risk for ≥ 5 meals/day. In stratified analyses, associations for 4 meals/day compared to 1–3 meals/day were stronger in women with BMI < 30.0 kg/m2 (HR = 1.55, 95% CI 1.00–2.39) and women ≥ age 60 (HR = 1.61, 95% CI 1.11–2.33). Conclusions 4 daily meals/day compared to 1–3 meals/day was associated with increased risk of T2D in postmenopausal women, but no dose-response effect was observed for additional eating occasions. Further studies are needed to understand eating occasions in relation to T2D risk.