Recent studies show that overweight children have many mental health problems. Research indicates that between 20 and 40 percent of all children in the United States experience a lower quality of life because they suffer from depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem caused by obesity.

Yoga is a proven psychological and physical treatment for many obesity-related problems, including disorders such as binge eating. A 2006 British study revealed that when children and young adults participated in three months of yoga with controlled breathing exercises, they were able to lose an average of 6 pounds.

This is an important statistic because of something called the Body Mass Index (BMI). For a child to be considered obese, their BMI must exceed 10% of the published health standards for age, height, and weight. The six pounds the yoga kids lost meant that, on average, these overweight kids were able to lose 60% of the weight needed to stop being considered obese.

The control group comparison study showed that children who were not treated with yoga but participated in all other activities had no improvement in weight loss. Even beginner level yoga activity will have a surprising effect for overweight children as the London study clearly shows that 40% of children with hypertension had normal blood pressure after just one week of participation.

Emotional disturbances that lead to addiction and binge eating are one way children block, avoid, or pacify feelings. The inability to deal with negative emotions such as frustration, anger, or shame set the stage for a distorted ritual of eating food.

Yoga increases self-esteem and helps obese children break through emotions and deal with compulsion to eat. Yoga breathing and meditation techniques provide calm and focus to calm compulsive behaviors without the need to eat to feel comfortable.

People regularly use yoga to promote a healthy union of body, mind, and spirit. The word yoga literally means “union” as in a peaceful connection with your physical being.

A battle of compulsive and impulsive eating thoughts is constantly being waged in the overweight or obese child. They also experience strong feelings of helplessness and even shame for not being able to control their body.

Yoga encourages a healthy method of control and teaches how to positively reconnect with the body. Obese children learn to approach each pose with a calm mind, an open heart, and a balanced bow.

The gentle exercise of yoga is a great way for an obese body under immense physical stress to have a low-impact fitness program to improve flexibility, strength, muscle tone, and coordination. Yoga for kids puts very little extra stress on the respiratory or cardiac system, while improving confidence, anxiety, and depression. Natural Health Techniques.

Reference:

US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Overweight and obesity