A new Harvard Study Reveals something the church has known for a long time: a Religious Upbringing is Better for Kids’ Health and Well-Being.
Researchers found that people who attended religious services weekly or who practiced prayer or meditation daily in their youth reported having a higher life satisfaction and positivity in their 20s.
Individuals were found less likely to smoke, have symptoms of depression, use illicit drugs, or have sexually transmitted infections than people who engaged in less regular spiritual practices.
First author Ying Chen wrote in a university press release.“Many children are raised religiously, and our study shows that this can powerfully affect their health behaviors, mental health, and overall happiness and well-being.”
Though the positive effects of growing up in a religious household are clear, religiosity in America is declining, particularly among millennials.
Gallup data shows that the number of Americans regarding religion to be “very important” in their lives is at a 24-year low, at 51 percent.
Emilie Kao, the director of the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation said there is a lesson for policymakers to be learned from studies showing the positive influences that growing up with a religious upbringing can have.
She said– “What policymakers need to do is allow religious institutions to operate in the public square without trying to force them to change their beliefs.”