Perceptions and Practices of the Adventist Health Message among SDA Members in Jakarta
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31154/isc12.v12i1.112.93-107Keywords:
Adventist health message, Knowledge–Attitude–Practice (KAP), health behavior adherence, Jakarta, urban congregations, cross-sectional designAbstract
Despite well-documented health benefits, adherence to the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) health message—plant-based nutrition, physical activity, temperance, rest, and spiritual trust—remains inconsistent, especially in urban settings where time constraints, psychosocial stressors, and social pressures widen the gap between belief and practice. Addressing the paucity of research on urban Southeast Asian Adventists, this cross‑sectional study, grounded in the Knowledge–Attitude–Practice (KAP) framework, surveyed 393 SDA members in Jakarta using a structured questionnaire to assess attitudes, self‑reported health behaviors, and perceived barriers. The results showed that while support for the beliefs was strong, participants only moderately adhered to the recommended health behaviors; further analysis indicated that a positive attitude encouraged healthier habits (β = 0.27, p < 0.001), but challenges such as insufficient time, environmental stress, and difficulty obtaining healthy food had a substantially larger negative impact (β = –0.41, p < 0.001). Age and gender effects were modest, with older adults and women exhibiting slightly higher compliance. These findings suggest that strong spiritual beliefs alone are insufficient to maintain a healthy lifestyle, highlighting the importance of tailored, faith‑based programs that use church resources, urban‑focused strategies, and leadership support to connect attitudes with actions and improve public health in city‑based SDA communities.
References
Adams, S. A., Matthews, C. E., Ebbeling, C. B., Moore, C. G., Cunningham, J. E., Fulton, J., & Hebert, J. R. (2005). The effect of social desirability and social approval on self-reports of physical activity. Preventive Medicine, 40(4), 451–458. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2004.07.003
Adventist Health Study. (2024). AHS-3 questionnaire and codebook. Loma Linda University School of Public Health. https://adventisthealthstudy.org
Adventist.org. (2025). Fundamental Belief 22: Christian behavior. General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. https://www.adventist.org/christian-behavior
American Psychological Association. (2017). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct (2017 ed.). https://www.apa.org/ethics/code
Andrews University. (2021). Global Seventh-day Adventist member survey: Executive summary. Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research.
Beauchamp, T. L., & Childress, J. F. (2019). Principles of biomedical ethics (8th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Champion, V. L., & Skinner, C. S. (2008). The health belief model. In K. Glanz, B. K. Rimer, & K. Viswanath (Eds.), Health behavior and health education: Theory, research, and practice (4th ed., pp. 45–65). Jossey-Bass.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). SAGE.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE.
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2018). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (3rd ed.). SAGE.
Field, A. (2018). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (5th ed.). SAGE.
Fraser, G. E. (2003). Diet, life expectancy, and chronic disease: Studies of Seventh-day Adventists and other vegetarians. Oxford University Press.
Fraser, G. E., & Shavlik, D. J. (2001). Ten years of life: Is it a matter of choice? Archives of Internal Medicine, 161(13), 1645–1652. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.161.13.1645
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. (2024). NEWSTART health ministry resource manual (2nd ed.). Health Ministries Department.
Glanz, K., Rimer, B. K., & Viswanath, K. (Eds.). (2015). Health behavior: Theory, research, and practice (5th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. (2024). The restorative power of rest: Health benefits of Sabbath observance. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/rest-and-health
Hebert, J. R., Clemow, L., Pbert, L., Ockene, I. S., & Ockene, J. K. (1995). Social desirability bias in dietary self-report may compromise the validity of dietary intake measures. International Journal of Epidemiology, 24(2), 389–398. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/24.2.389
Hope for Africa. (2024). Faith, immune resilience, and lifestyle: A multi-country report. Adventist Health Ministries, Africa Division.
Koenig, H. G., King, D. E., & Carson, V. B. (2012). Handbook of religion and health (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Kwok, C. S., Umar, S., Myint, P. K., Mamas, M. A., Loke, Y. K., & Anderson, S. G. (2014). Vegetarian diet, Seventh-day Adventists and risk of cardiovascular mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Cardiology, 176(3), 680–686. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2014.08.116
Marmot, M., Friel, S., Bell, R., Houweling, T. A. J., Taylor, S., & Commission on Social Determinants of Health. (2008). Closing the gap in a generation: Health equity through action on the social determinants of health. The Lancet, 372(9650), 1661–1669. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61690-6
Ministry Magazine. (2017, August). Whole-person Sabbath: Reclaiming rest for spiritual and physical renewal. https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/2017/08/whole-person-sabbath
Nix, E., & Landless, P. (2025). Temperance and modern health: Revisiting Ellen G. White’s counsel. Review and Herald.
Orlich, M. J., Singh, P. N., Sabaté, J., Fan, J., Knutsen, S., Beeson, W. L., Jaceldo-Siegl, K., & Fraser, G. E. (2023). Vegetarian dietary patterns and mortality in Adventist Health Study 2. JAMA Internal Medicine, 183(2), 165–173. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.4799
Patton, M. Q. (2015). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (4th ed.). SAGE.
Qian, F., Liu, G., Hu, F. B., Bhupathiraju, S. N., Sun, Q., & Kim, R. (2019). Association between plant-based dietary patterns and risk of cardiovascular diseases: A meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Circulation, 139(10), 1211–1220. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.118.035225
Rodriguez, M. (2025). The body as temple: Contemporary Adventist theology of health. Pacific Press.
Rothman, A. J. (2018). Time scarcity and health behavior: Implications for intervention in urban populations. Health Psychology Review, 12(2), 142–157. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2018.1426812
Segovia-Siapco, G., Sabaté, J., Jaceldo-Siegl, K., & Fraser, G. E. (2020). Plant-based diets and anthropometric and cardiometabolic risk factors in Filipino Seventh-day Adventists. Public Health Nutrition, 23(7), 1201–1211. https://doi.org/10.1017/S136898001900408X
Shavlik, D. J., & Fraser, G. E. (2001). Dietary legumes, beans, and risk of chronic disease in California Adventists. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 74(5), 613–619. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/74.5.613
SDA Diet and Lifestyle Study. (2025). Executive report on global Adventist lifestyle trends. Adventist Health Ministries, General Conference.
Sullivan, G. M., & Artino, A. R., Jr. (2013). Analyzing and interpreting data from Likert-type scales. Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 5(4), 541–542. https://doi.org/10.4300/JGME-5-4-18
Warner, R. M. (2013). Applied statistics: From bivariate through multivariate techniques (2nd ed.). SAGE.
White, E. G. (1890). Counsels on diet and foods. Pacific Press.
White, E. G. (1905/2025). The ministry of healing (Modernized ed.). Andrews University Press.
White Estate. (2025). Plant-based living: Historical perspectives and modern practice. Ellen G. White Estate.
World Health Organization. (2022, October). Physical activity: Fact sheet. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity
