GRAPEVINE, Texas--After a series of sermons on the biblical principle of the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit, Sunday mornings at Fellowship Church became devoid of donuts.

The Associated Press reports that Ed Young, pastor of the 18,000-member suburban Dallas church, wanted to change the culture of believers to include healthy eating and physical fitness.

"People loved the Krispy Kremes, but the more we started thinking about this, we were saying, 'We can't talk about this on the one hand and on the other hand have all these donuts,'" Young said.

Autumn Marshall, a nutritionist at church-affiliated Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., said that while most evangelical Christians don't drink, smoke, curse or commit adultery, they do eat. And eat.

Gluttony, she said, "just appears to be a more acceptable vice."

A 1998 Purdue University study concluded that church members were more likely to be overweight than other people. Southern Baptists were heaviest.

The top two medical claims paid by the denomination's health insurance program in 2002 were for ailments such as back problems and high blood pressure, often the results of obesity or a sedentary lifestyle.

"It seems the secular community is sounding the alarm over the evils of obesity, but Christian churches do not seem to have heard the message," Rev. O.S. Hawkins wrote in his new book, "High Calling, High Anxiety."

He cited denominational statistics that showed 75 percent of Baptist pastors eat fried foods at least four nights a week and 40 percent snack two or more times a day on cookies, chips or candy.

"Baptists definitely hold the heavyweight title in ministry," Hawkins wrote.

At Fellowship Church the emphasis on God's role in healthy living persuaded Angela Wicker, 35, to improve her diet and to exercise.

She also replaced her children's fast-food diet with healthier food. As a result, she said, her 12-year-old son lost 20 pounds.

Fellowship Church offers fitness clubs and sports teams to promote physical activity. Pastor Young works out and leads a workout program for church members. His wife cooked on stage to show how to cut the fat grams.

"We're not like purists," Young said. "It's not bean curd and tree bark and carrot juice every day. But I would say about 95 percent of the meals we eat at home are healthy. She uses lean meats, fresh vegetables, not a lot of butter."

But Young admits the church has a long way to go. He sees people eating fatty foods at restaurants after church.

"They'll say, 'Let's pray together, God, bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies.' The deal is, they should have prayed before they ordered, 'God, help me order stuff that will glorify you.'"