Caloric Intake on the Sabbath: A Pilot Study of Contributing Factors to Obesity in the Orthodox Jewish Community

The American Orthodox Jewish community has specific cultural factors that may contribute to overweight and obesity. This study aimed to look at caloric intake on the Sabbath and its contribution to overweight and obesity. Twelve married or previously married women who identify themselves as Orthodox Jews were recruited to do 24-h food recalls over the phone. The participants were divided into three weight groups (normal, overweight, and obese) based on their BMI. The overweight and obese participants' data were combined into one group for the purposes of statistical testing. Paired t tests looking at the data for all participants showed significantly great caloric intake during an average Sabbath day than an average weekday [t(4) = 7.58, p < 0.001]. A repeated-measures ANOVA showed significantly greater energy intake on the Sabbath for the overweight-obese women compared to the normal weight women [F(1) = 7.83, p = 0.02]. No statistical difference was seen between the weekday energy intake of the normal weight women as compared to the combined group of overweight-obese women [F(1) = 0.501, p = 0.499]. These results support the hypotheses that all groups eat significantly more on the Sabbath than on weekdays, and overweight and obese individuals eat significantly more on the Sabbath than normal weight individuals. This supports the theory that caloric intake on the Sabbath is a contributing factor to overweight and obesity within the American Orthodox Jewish community.