The Effect of Healthy Nutrition and Yoga Program on Obese Children

The prevalence of childhood obesity as a chronic disease is rapidly increasing all over the world, including low- and middle-income countries. Literature highlights that approximately 40.1 million children worldwide are overweight and, at the same time, overweight and obesity are rapidly increasing in almost every country in the world with no signs of slowing down. According to data, it is reported that the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children has increased from 4% to 18% in the last 41 years, and the number of obese school-age children has increased from 11 million to 124 million and has increased more than 10 times. Published reports state that Turkey's childhood obesity risk score is between 70-80%. It is reported that 30% of obese children become obese when they reach adulthood. In this context, identifying and treating individuals with childhood obesity is of great importance. The basic approach in childhood obesity, which is very difficult to treat, is to focus on changeable factors such as daily physical activity and healthy nutrition in an integrated manner. Although it has been proven in the literature that healthy nutrition and physical activity strategies are effective on obesity management, it has been stated that stabilization of this management is difficult. In addition, it is advocated that a holistic approach is required in obesity management to improve long-term results and maintain fitness. Yoga, used in today's obesity, has gained increasing popularity as a mind-body practice. Yoga mind and body movement approaches have the potential to offer a holistic approach to maintaining wellness. Yoga, a lifestyle-based form of physical exercise for health and wellness, emphasizes low physical impact postures (asana), breathwork (pranayama) and meditation (dhyana), regular body stretching, mind-body awareness, and mindful concentration. The literature has reported that yoga could reduce body mass index (BMI) in overweight/obese individuals. Another study reported that regular yoga practice is associated with weight-related health behaviors that may facilitate healthy weight management, such as healthy eating and moderate or vigorous physical activity. It has been concluded in the literature that yoga reduces the BMI values of obese children and that regular yoga practices may make it easier to prevent weight gain. Although the study results show that yoga-based interventions are promising on child obesity well-designed randomized controlled studies on this subject are needed. This study was planned to examine the effects of a healthy nutrition and yoga program given to obese children on nutritional behavior, physical activity and anthropometric measurements.