80% Americans Regularly Practise Yoga for Wellness and Disease Prevention

Regular practise of Yoga benefit more than dietary supplements and also many practise yoga for wellness than to treat a medical condition, revealed a new survey by the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).The analysis by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) was published in a National Health Statistics Report by the National Center for Health Statistics. It provides estimates of selected wellness-related reasons and outcomes from the use of three complementary health approaches: natural product supplements; yoga; and spinal manipulation.

“Though yoga seems to play the biggest role, people who use a variety of complementary health approaches reported better well-being. This may suggest that people perceive more wellness benefit when they are actively involved in their health, for example by practicing yoga. More research is needed to better understand the ways yoga and other approaches impact overall health,” said Josephine P. Briggs, director of NCCIH.

The NHIS is an annual study in which thousands of Americans are interviewed about their health- and illness-related experiences. In the 2012 analysis, participants were asked about their use of complementary health approaches and whether they used them to treat a specific health condition or for any of five wellness-related reasons. The survey results are based on data from 34,525 adults aged 18 and older.

They found that 60 % of people used yoga for wellness and disease prevention. 70% reported the focus on mind, body and soul as the reason for practising Yoga. While 80% reported stress as the reason for practicing Yoga.

Although dietary supplement users were twice as likely to report wellness rather than treatment as a reason for taking supplements, fewer than 1 in 4 reported reduced stress, better sleep, or feeling better emotionally as a result of using dietary supplements.

More than 60 percent of those using spinal manipulation reported doing so to treat a specific health condition, and more than 50 percent did so for general wellness or disease prevention.

“The NHIS is the principle source of health information on U.S. adults. Our results suggest that complementary health approaches may play an important role in promoting positive health behaviors, including those we know impact chronic conditions,” said Barbara Stussman, statistician for NCCIH and author of the analysis.

Source-Medindia