Effect of Yoga on Body Composition in Person with Visual Disabilities

Aim: The aims of this study were to determine the effect of selected yoga asanas on body composition of visually challenged School Going Children. Materials and Method: Total of 24 visually disabled male school going children (12 to 18 years) were participated as subjects in this study. It was divided into two equal groups as experimental group (n=12) and control group (n=12). The experimental group was regularly practiced 15 minutes warming up and selected yogic asana for 45 minutes per day, 05 days per week, for 6 weeks with proper technical assistance. The pretest and post-test were taken of all the body composition parameters before and after six (6) weeks of yogic exercise training program. The body composition variables were Age, Height, Weight, Blood Pressure (B.P.), Pulse Rate, BMI, BMR, Body Fat and Visceral Fat%, which were measured by standard body composition analyzer. To test the significance of changes made from the pre and post-test on two groups (Experimental and Control) groups’ paired sample -test was used. Results: Significant reduction (P < 0.005) in the percentage of Body Fat, Basal Metabolic Rate (B.M.R), Pulse Rate and Blood Pressure (s) were noted in the experimental group after 06 weeks of yoga training. However, there were no significant differences in Visceral Fate, Body Mass Index (B.M.I), Blood Pressure (d) in the yoga and control group. These changes might be due to yoga training but for more significant results, yoga training required for visually disabled person longer duration time with proper assistance.