Muslims are currently observing Ramadan, a holy month when people fast by abstaining from certain activities, including eating and drinking, during the day. Many Christians, Jews and adherents of other religions also practice some form of fasting at certain times of the year. Many Catholics, for example, recently fasted for Lent by abstaining from meat on Fridays, among other things.
In the United States, 21% of adults overall say they fast for certain periods during holy times, according to a Pew Research Center survey from February. Muslim Americans are by far the most likely to say they fast for religious reasons, followed by Jewish Americans, Catholics and Black Protestants.
While the February survey includes people of all religious backgrounds, we do not have large enough samples to report on the fasting habits of smaller groups, such as Hindus, Buddhists or Orthodox Christians.
Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to see how many U.S. adults fast for religious reasons and what percentage of people in various religious groups take part in fasting.
For this analysis, we surveyed 12,693 respondents from Feb. 13 to 25, 2024. Most of the respondents (10,642) are members of the American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel recruited through national random sampling of residential addresses, which gives nearly all U.S. adults a chance of selection.
The remaining respondents (2,051) are members of three other panels; the Ipsos KnowledgePanel, the NORC Amerispeak Panel and the SSRS Opinion Panel. All three are national survey panels recruited through random sampling (not “opt-in” polls). We used these additional panels to ensure that the survey would have enough Jewish and Muslim respondents to be able to report on their views.
The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education, religious affiliation and other categories.
For more information, refer to the ATP’s methodology and the methodology for this analysis. Read the questions used in this analysis.
Eight-in-ten Muslim Americans say they fast, according to the February survey. We did not ask whether Muslims are fasting specifically for Ramadan, which runs from early March through early April this year. However, a 2017 Center survey found that 80% of Muslims fast for Ramadan, making it a far more common practice than other Islamic traditions like praying five times a day (42%) or attending mosque weekly (43%).
About half of Jewish Americans (49%) say they fast for certain periods during holy times, according to the February survey. And in a 2019-2020 Center survey, 56% of Jewish adults said they fasted for all or part of the previous Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur is a day of atonement for sins. The fast traditionally entails not eating or drinking for approximately 25 hours, from sunset on the eve of Yom Kippur until after sunset the following day. Some Jews also fast at other times of the year, such as Tishah b’Av, which primarily commemorates the destruction of the first and second ancient Jewish temples in Jerusalem.
Four-in-ten U.S. Catholics fast, according to the February survey. We didn’t ask respondents about when they fast specifically, but many Catholics around the world fast during Lent, the 40-day period leading up to Easter. Lenten sacrifices often include abstaining from eating meat on Fridays and giving up something one typically enjoys – like a favorite food, drink or pastime. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops says Lent calls for giving up luxuries and practicing self-discipline. In 2015, we found that 47% of Catholics said they gave up something or did something extra for Lent in the previous year.
Protestants also sometimes fast, with Black Protestants most likely to do so (34%). Fewer White evangelical Protestants (16%) or White nonevangelical Protestants (7%) fast. Some Protestants fast for Lent, while individual Protestant churches or religious leaders sometimes call for short periods of abstention from food – or food and drink – to focus practitioners on spiritual activities such as prayer, charity or seeking guidance from God.
Many other religions, including Buddhism and Hinduism, also have traditions that involve fasting. Various religions teach that fasting improves self-control, increases spiritual awareness or fosters empathy for the less fortunate, among other things.
Note: For more information, refer to the ATP’s methodology and the methodology for this analysis. Read the questions used in this analysis.
