Mental and Behavioural Responses to Baha'i Fasting: Looking behind the Scenes of a Religiously Motivated Intermittent Fast Using a Mixed Methods Approach.

ABSTRACT:

Background/objective

Historically, fasting has been practiced not only for medical but also for religious reasons. Bahá'ís follow an annual religious intermittent dry fast of 19 days. We inquired into motivation behind and subjective health impacts of Bahá'í fasting.

Methods

A convergent parallel mixed methods design was embedded in a clinical single arm observational study. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted before (n = 7), during (n = 8), and after fasting (n = 8). Three months after the fasting period, two focus group interviews were conducted (n = 5/n = 3). A total of 146 Bahá'í volunteers answered an online survey at five time points before, during, and after fasting.

Results

Fasting was found to play a central role for the religiosity of interv

SUBMITTER: Ring RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8912886 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature