Bhubaneswar Yet To Embrace Yoga Culture, Says Study

Bhubaneswar: It’s International Yoga Day on June 21. None other than our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pushing fellow-Indians as well as people worldwide to practise yoga.

Though yoga has been included as an alternative to physical activity for all age-groups in India with the potential to prevent non-communicable diseases, it is yet to find wide acceptance among the urban population.

A study on Epidemiology of Yoga among Urban Population, conducted by Community Medicine Department of Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, has found that a mere 17 per cent of people in Bhubaneswar city practised ‘asana’, ‘pranayama’ or ‘dhyana’.

Further, just 10.7 per cent of the capital city’s population practised all the yoga techniques.

The study was conducted with a sample size of around 1,200 people in Bhubaneswar by Dr Satyajit Mohanty, Dr Sandeep Kumar Panigrahi and Dr Jyotiranjan Sahoo.

“Interestingly, participation of women in yoga in the city was more compared to men and it was found that the level of education had a role in people wanting to accept and practise yoga,” said E Venkata Rao, Professor in the Department of Community Medicine.

Prof. Rao said the study was prompted by the findings of an earlier one which said only 5.3 per cent of the urban population in eastern India practise yoga.

The latest study also found that family bread winners or people belonging to higher socio-economic strata are less likely to participate in yoga but those who practised it were physically active and eager to take part in other forms of physical activity.

Interestingly, 49 per cent of doctors in Bhubaneswar prescribe yoga to their patients as a physical activity.

Bhbaneswar was recently ranked among the top four livable capital cities in the country.

While recommending spread of yoga across Odisha for better impact in controlling non-communicable diseases, the study observed that it was all the more useful to deal with the post-COVID scenario.

“The post-Covid chronic sequels can be ameliorated by yoga and hence the need for its spread,” it said.

Asana (yogic postures), pranayama (breathing control) and dhyana (meditation) are the most practised among eight yoga techniques.