Effect of 10-week Yoga Intervention on Obesity on Working Male Professionals

Abstract

Background: Yoga practices have been shown to be effective for obesity and its related anthropometric variables. Various kinds of research assessing the effectiveness of yoga practices on obesity are available. The present article measures the effect of 10 weeks of yoga practice including loosening exercises, yogasanas, pranayamas, kriyas, and surya namaskar among working male professionals suffering from obesity. Materials and Methods: 75 males with ages varying between 35 and 55 years were screened for the study. Fifteen participants did not meet the inclusion criteria, and were thus excluded; therefore, 60 participants were selected for the study. The included adult males did not have any disease other than obesity. The participants of the yoga group received 10 weeks of yoga practice and the control group did not receive any intervention. Body weight (BW), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and hip circumference (HC) of the participants were calculated at baseline and after 10 weeks. Informed consent was obtained from each participant prior to participation. The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee, Gurukula Kangri (Deemed to University). Results: Results reported that anthropometric variables, BW, BMI, WC, and HC (p < 0.001) had a significant reduction in the yoga group. Comparison between the group showed significant differences in BW, BMI, and WC (p < 0.05) except HC after a 10-week period. Conclusion: Present study suggests that a 10-week yoga intervention would be beneficial for working male professionals with an obesity level of one. The study has also a few implications in hospitals for patients as yoga therapy and yoga consultation.