Exploring the effects of yoga on body composition, fitness, physiology, nutrition, and mental health in adolescents

Introduction: Adolescents are exposed to various stressors in everyday life. Maintaining health and fitness is essential for the adolescents, who are the future workforce of our country. Yoga may be used to improve health, fitness, and mental well-being. The present study was designed to study the e...

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Main Authors: Sayan Jyoti Bera, Kingshuk Ghosh, Soumyadip Ghosh, Pritee Singha, Atanu Jana, Atish Mukherjee, Indranil Manna
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2025-01-01
Series:Yoga-Mimamsa
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/ym.ym_10_25
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author Sayan Jyoti Bera
Kingshuk Ghosh
Soumyadip Ghosh
Pritee Singha
Atanu Jana
Atish Mukherjee
Indranil Manna
author_facet Sayan Jyoti Bera
Kingshuk Ghosh
Soumyadip Ghosh
Pritee Singha
Atanu Jana
Atish Mukherjee
Indranil Manna
author_sort Sayan Jyoti Bera
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: Adolescents are exposed to various stressors in everyday life. Maintaining health and fitness is essential for the adolescents, who are the future workforce of our country. Yoga may be used to improve health, fitness, and mental well-being. The present study was designed to study the effects of 6 weeks of yoga practice on body composition, physical and physiological variables of adolescent male and female volunteers. Materials and Methods: A total of 140 healthy volunteers (age: 12–16 years) were included, and 20 with a history of illness were excluded; the remaining 120 volunteers were grouped as (a) control group (n = 60) and (b) yoga group (n = 60) and subdivided into (i) male (n = 30) and (ii) female (n = 30) volunteers. The volunteers of the yoga group performed yoga 1 h/d, 6 d/week for 6 weeks, whereas the control group participants did not perform yoga. The socioeconomic status was assessed before the study. Body composition, fitness, physiological variables, nutritional and mental health status were assessed before (0 week) and after (6 weeks) yoga practice. Paired and independent sample t-tests, along with correlation, were performed. Results: Yoga practice increased (p ≤ 0.05) strength, flexibility, anaerobic power, maximum aerobic capacity, forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 s, and peak expiratory flow rate and decreased (p ≤ 0.05) resting heart rate, blood pressure, depression, anxiety, and stress scores in both male and female volunteers. Conclusion: Regular yoga practice improves physical and mental health status, which may prevent the risk of cardiorespiratory diseases, obesity, and mental illness.
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spelling doaj-art-ba2ce9cbda074ba9b6d88b43cff44cf32025-08-20T03:31:47ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsYoga-Mimamsa0044-05072394-24872025-01-01571142210.4103/ym.ym_10_25Exploring the effects of yoga on body composition, fitness, physiology, nutrition, and mental health in adolescentsSayan Jyoti BeraKingshuk GhoshSoumyadip GhoshPritee SinghaAtanu JanaAtish MukherjeeIndranil MannaIntroduction: Adolescents are exposed to various stressors in everyday life. Maintaining health and fitness is essential for the adolescents, who are the future workforce of our country. Yoga may be used to improve health, fitness, and mental well-being. The present study was designed to study the effects of 6 weeks of yoga practice on body composition, physical and physiological variables of adolescent male and female volunteers. Materials and Methods: A total of 140 healthy volunteers (age: 12–16 years) were included, and 20 with a history of illness were excluded; the remaining 120 volunteers were grouped as (a) control group (n = 60) and (b) yoga group (n = 60) and subdivided into (i) male (n = 30) and (ii) female (n = 30) volunteers. The volunteers of the yoga group performed yoga 1 h/d, 6 d/week for 6 weeks, whereas the control group participants did not perform yoga. The socioeconomic status was assessed before the study. Body composition, fitness, physiological variables, nutritional and mental health status were assessed before (0 week) and after (6 weeks) yoga practice. Paired and independent sample t-tests, along with correlation, were performed. Results: Yoga practice increased (p ≤ 0.05) strength, flexibility, anaerobic power, maximum aerobic capacity, forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 s, and peak expiratory flow rate and decreased (p ≤ 0.05) resting heart rate, blood pressure, depression, anxiety, and stress scores in both male and female volunteers. Conclusion: Regular yoga practice improves physical and mental health status, which may prevent the risk of cardiorespiratory diseases, obesity, and mental illness.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/ym.ym_10_25flexibilityyogamental health
spellingShingle Sayan Jyoti Bera
Kingshuk Ghosh
Soumyadip Ghosh
Pritee Singha
Atanu Jana
Atish Mukherjee
Indranil Manna
Exploring the effects of yoga on body composition, fitness, physiology, nutrition, and mental health in adolescents
Yoga-Mimamsa
flexibility
yoga
mental health
title Exploring the effects of yoga on body composition, fitness, physiology, nutrition, and mental health in adolescents
title_full Exploring the effects of yoga on body composition, fitness, physiology, nutrition, and mental health in adolescents
title_fullStr Exploring the effects of yoga on body composition, fitness, physiology, nutrition, and mental health in adolescents
title_full_unstemmed Exploring the effects of yoga on body composition, fitness, physiology, nutrition, and mental health in adolescents
title_short Exploring the effects of yoga on body composition, fitness, physiology, nutrition, and mental health in adolescents
title_sort exploring the effects of yoga on body composition fitness physiology nutrition and mental health in adolescents
topic flexibility
yoga
mental health
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/ym.ym_10_25
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