Top Christian authors touting the physical, emotional and spiritual benefits of living well are themselves making a good living with health and fitness products, including best-selling books.

Jordan Rubin, traveling the country for nearly a year on his Perfect Weight America tour bus, and Carole Lewis with her newly re-launched First Place 4 Health program used in thousands of churches, have both benefited as the pursuit of better health has mushroomed into a multimillion-dollar business.

Some credit the trend to the baby boomer generation refusing to gray gracefully, while others note the obesity epidemic, with some of the 62% of overweight Americans looking for diet help fueling the growth.

Christian retailers and publishers are each carving out their part in this growing market. For both, book releases covering diet, fitness, nutrition and overall wellness from a Christian perspective are proving to be consistent sellers.

"There is definitely a felt need in the marketplace for these types of health books," said Woodley Auguste, senior publicist for Strang Communications whose Siloam imprint is the leader in the Christian health and fitness genre. "People are looking for books that embrace their faith."

Kirk Blank, chief operations officer for the Munce Group, promotes health and fitness products in January and February, coordinating in-store placement with plan-o-grams and signage, said: "Anytime you combine a best-selling author with the topic of health and fitness, you have a winning combination, and generally a best-seller on your hands."

Read more in the Sept. 22 issue of Christian Retailing.