Want to stay healthy? Keep going to church. That, at least, is one conclusion you might draw from a new study:

For some people, leaving their religion means more than taking a spiritual risk. They could be risking their physical health as well, according to one recent study.

In the study conducted done by Christopher Scheitle, a senior research assistant in sociology at Penn State University, 40 percent of those who said they practice a religion with strict social, moral and physical guidelines reported themselves to be in excellent health.

As they moved further from their strict religion, the percentage of those describing themselves in excellent health declined. About 25 percent of those who switched to a more liberal religious group said they were in excellent health, and the figure dropped to 20 percent for people who quit religion all together.

“Previous research showed some association between belonging to a religious group and positive health outcomes,” said Scheitle, whose study is published in the current issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. “We became interested in what would happen to your health if you left a religious group. Would people demonstrate any negative health outcomes?”

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