Christian fasting season: many Germans to stay away from internet

Mar 8, 2011, 11:52 GMT

Berlin - More than a quarter of Germans planning to join in the Christian fasting season of Lent say they will skip visits to the internet and private computer use, a health insurer said Tuesday.

Fasting, traditionally a mainly Catholic ritual, has been making a comeback as more Lutherans adopt the practice and the 'millennial' generation of environmentalist young adults take a stand against unhealthy living. Lent this year runs from Wednesday till April 23.

The insurer, DAK, said 60 per cent of Germans were convinced that spending several weeks without those pleasures that had tended to become obsessive was good for their health.

A pollster surveyed 1,002 Germans for DAK in February. Only 29 per cent rejected fasting as absurd.

Of those who favoured fasting, 78 per cent said they would be most likely to halt alcohol use and 69 per cent would stop eating sweets for a while for the sake of healthy living. Web and computer use figured as a good thing to drop for 28 per cent.

Christian fasting is less strict than Ramadan fasting, with the Catholic church mainly urging members to skip meat on Lenten Fridays but also to create do-it-yourself fasts that target their individual semi-addictions.

Read more about Germany Religion