Invited Commentary: Religion as a Social Determinant of Health

There is broad agreement that religion is a social determinant of health. In the article by Chen and VanderWeele (Am J Epidemiol. 2018;187(11):2355-2364), the authors took an outcome-wide approach to demonstrate associations between religious practices early in the life course (regular service attendance and prayer/mediation) and a wide range of health endpoints and behaviors later on. Is religion a panacea? The study adds to the evidence that religious practices are correlated with a broad swath of health outcomes. However, more work is needed to translate that evidence into practicable advice for individuals and for society. The following tasks remain. 1) We must sharpen our understanding of which elements of religious practices promote health. (Specifically, is it service attendance, prayer, or both? Could a nonreligious person achieve the same benefit via regular participation in a secular group, like a choir?). 2) We should improve our understanding of the different contexts in which religion is likely to have beneficial, as well as potentially harmful, effects.