Effect of yoga on minimum muscular fitness in visually impaired school children

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Fitness for children is an alarming crisis in India and it is in even more critical for children with visual impairments as they are restricted to many physical activities as compare to normal sighted children. Yogic practices enhance the entire physical, physiological, cognitive faculties, and overall well-being. OBJECTIVES: The current study was done to measure the effect of yoga on minimum muscular fitness in visually impaired school children. METHODS: A total of Seventy eight (n=78) visually impaired students in the age range of 8 to 16 years (class 3rd to 8th) from Shree Ramana Maharishi Academy for the blind, have participated in the study. The total participants were divided into two groups (35 control and 43 yoga) matched on age, gender and the degree of blindness. Those who have volunteered to practice yoga were included in interventional group and the practice was for 6 weeks with 5 sessions each week. Children were assessed through Kraus Weber Test, before commencing and after completion of the intervention period. RESULTS: The yoga group showed 46.51% improvement as compared to 26.32% improvement of control group which shows 20.19% of improvement. Though the improvement is not significant there is a trend of improvement after 6 weeks of yoga practice. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that Yoga practice may be considered as an effective option to improve minimum muscular fitness of visually impaired children.