Benefits of Yoga practice on body posture and on psychological and cognitive functions in children aged 8-10 years

Background. Many authors have reported benefits related to yoga practice. In particular, the scientific literature showed the influences of yoga on physical performance and cognitive functions. However, only few researches have examined the role of this training practice in children. For this reason, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects on body posture and features as self-esteem and attention in children aged 8-10 years. Materials and method. Sixty-five subjects (male n=28, female n=37) aged 8-10 years and attending primary school were enrolled for the study and randomly assigned into an experimental group (EG) which included 28 participants and a control group (CG) consisted of 37 participants. Both groups performed the curricular physical activity. Moreover, the EG performed a 5-months yoga intervention (from January to May 2018) for once/week with 60 minutes/session that provided breathing exercises (Pranayama) and posture-holding exercises (Ȃsana). Each participant was evaluated before (T0) and after (T1) the yoga protocol in order to assess any changes on body balance and postural control and on two peculiar aspects such as self-esteem and attention. Body posture, first with eyes open (EO) and then closed (EC), was measured through a stabilometric platform (freeMed® platform and freeStep® software produced by Sensor Medica®, Guidonia Montecelio, Roma, Italy), instead, using the Self-Esteem Multidimensional Assessment (TMA test) and an Executive Functions Test (ESA test) were evaluated the above-mentioned psychological aspect and cognitive function. Results. As concern stabilometric parameters, we found a significant difference (p<0.05) between T0 and T1 on Ellipse Sway Area (ESA) in the EG for both EO and EC conditions; moreover, our results showed a significant difference on the Sway Path Length (SPL) for the EG (p<0.0001) and for the CG (p<0.05). Furthermore, for the EG the ESA variable is correlated to the self-esteem in the EO condition as well as in the EC condition (p<0.0001). Conclusions. Our findings suggest that yoga practice may induce an increase of body stability and this is related to an improvement of self-esteem. These results support previous researches that have reported cognitive advantages and physical health benefits amongst yoga practitioners versus non-practitioners.