Physical benefits of yoga for elementary school students

The practice of yoga has been practiced for over 5,000 years, but for nearly all of that time period it was limited to men and selected male children. Today, yoga is practiced by people from every demographic group for its numerous physical and psychosocial benefits. However, little research has been conducted on the physical benefits for children. This study tracked two groups of elementary students who were monitored over eight weeks with group practicing yoga twice each week and one group not practicing yoga being a control group. Results showed that individuals that practice yoga did not experience any short term weight gain and reported eating less sugary, salty, and fatty foods. Children in the yoga group were more likely to maintain their resting heart rate and blood pressure in normal healthy rates than the control group. A growing number of research studies have shown that yoga for children helps prevent and treat obesity and thus decrease risk of children developing Type-2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and some types of cancer. Yoga practice may be an activity that children can acquire and carry with them their entire lifetime as a way to improve their well-being including their physical health and not limited to psychosocial health (stress management).