Tami Coyne and Karen Weissman are known as “The Spiritual Chicks” and are authors of The Spiritual Chicks Question Everything: Learn to Risk, Release and Soar (Red Wheel, 2003). In the book, they discuss whether God loves fat people and conclude that God does. Both Chicks live in New York City.

Carol Showalter is the author of 3D: Diet, Discipline and Discipleship (Paraclete Press, 2002) and is a member of the Community of Jesus. She is the founder of the 3D Plan, a Christian lifestyle group.

Lael Atkinson is pastor of Payson Park United Church of Christ in Belmont, Mass. In 2003, she delivered a sermon about America as a culture that consumes too much of everything, including food.

Ravindra S. Khare is a professor of anthropology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He has written about Hindu gastrosemantics.

Francine Prose is the author of 10 books, including Gluttony, part of the “Seven Deadly Sins” series (Oxford University Press, 2003). She is a distinguished writer in residence at Bard College in New York. She lives in New York City.

Jualynne Dodson is a visiting professor at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Michigan State University in East Lansing. She has written extensively about African-American Christians and food.

Read a Jan. 4, 2013, article about the obesity epidemic in American churches.

Read a Nov. 10, 2011, article from the Huffington Post about the results of a study that showed a correlation between religious involvement and weight gain.

Read a March 25, 2011, article from NBC News about the link between attending religious events and obesity in young adults.