Yeah but everyone knows you shouldn’t eat junk food and should exercise more. And last I checked Utah is subject to the same consumer advertising, fast food chains, and processed food brands as everywhere else.
Having been raised Mormon and participating in the church and culture until my mid-20's, there are sooo many aspects of the religion that affect life across so many dimensions. I'm sure abstinence from drugs is benificial, but probably only account for a fraction of the effect.
Other things I'd consider:
* Longevity is associated with community, something the church is very good at
* Even elderly individuals are required to perform "a calling", giving them meaning and purpose later in life
* Mormons have a lot of children, and so when you're older you usually have a very strong social safety net
* Mormons have lower divorce rates, and divorce is correlated with greater mortality
As an agnostic and raising kids, I spend a lot of time now pondering how – if at all – to pass on as many of these benefits of Mormonism to my kids without mandating the magical beliefs, and I have to say it's difficult. But I think you do have to have some healthy middle-ground mix of conservatism and collectivisms just to strike a healthy balance with modern individualism and liberalism.
