"Yoga's Enchanting Effects: 17 Weeks of Practice Aid Weight Loss, Stress Relief, and Enhanced Concentration in Teens" ... Source: The Indian Express, Aug 17, 2023

A recent study conducted by the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF) has revealed that a 17-week yoga program, consisting of simple yoga asanas, breath exercises, stretching poses, pranayama, and meditation, has led to significant improvements in the well-being of school-going adolescents aged 13 to 15. The study, funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), included 2,000 students from public and private schools in Delhi and Chennai.

The yoga sessions, conducted weekly on school premises by trained instructors, produced a range of positive outcomes. The adolescents experienced a 5% reduction in stress levels as measured by an Adolescence Stress Scale (ADOSS), which considered factors like salivary cortisol levels and clinical parameters. Remarkably, the participants also exhibited improvements in various metabolic markers, including a decrease in body weight, fat, waist circumference, BMI, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The group that participated in yoga showed a reduction in salivary cortisol levels, while these parameters increased in the non-yoga group.

The study's lead author, Dr. Ranjani Harish, noted that attention span and concentration, measured through a Letter Cancellation Test (LCT), increased by 18% in the yoga group compared to 7% in the non-yoga group. These positive effects were consistent across genders, school types, and locations.

Dr. V Mohan, President of MDRF, emphasized the significance of the study's findings, highlighting that pranayama (breath exercises) can be an effective tool for teenagers to manage stress during a crucial developmental period. This practice could potentially help prevent metabolic syndrome and related chronic illnesses in the long term.

Adolescence is a period of intense physiological, hormonal, cognitive, and social changes, often leading to stress and mental health issues. This study's results suggest that yoga can play a role in mitigating these challenges and reducing the risk of issues like obesity and diabetes. The yoga regimen, which included 40 minutes of physical activity, demonstrated sustainable metabolic benefits and can serve as an early habit-building tool for preventive healthcare.

The study's authors also highlighted that the peer-led training model, which involved training yoga and science teachers to supervise the sessions, could be easily expanded to involve more teachers and students.

This research adds to a growing body of evidence supporting the benefits of yoga, including its potential to reduce stress, improve emotional well-being, and contribute to overall metabolic health.