Rioux Jennifer Grace, Ritenbaugh Cheryl
Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Arizona, AZ, USA.
Altern Ther Health Med. 2013 May-Jun;19(3):32-46.
Medical authorities have identified obesity as a causal factor in the development of diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease (CVD), and more broadly, of metabolic syndrome/insulin resistance syndrome. To provide solutions that can modify this risk factor, researchers need to identify methods of effective risk reduction and primary prevention of obesity. Research on the effectiveness of yoga as a treatment for obesity is limited, and studies vary in overall quality and methodological rigor.
This narrative review assessed the quantity and quality of clinical trials of yoga as an intervention for weight loss or as a means of risk reduction or treatment for obesity and diseases in which obesity is a causal factor. This review summarized the studies' research designs and evaluated the efficacy of yoga for weight loss via the current evidence base.
The research team evaluated published studies to determine the appropriateness of research designs, comparability of programs' intervention elements, and standardization of outcome measures. The research team's literature search used the key terms yoga and obesity or yoga and weight loss in three primary medical-literature databases (PubMed, PsychInfo, and Web of Science). The study excluded clinical trials with no quantitative obesity related measure. Extracted data included each study's (1) design; (2) setting and population; (3) nature, duration, and frequency of interventions; (4) comparison groups; (5) recruitment strategies; (6) outcome measures; (7) data analysis and presentation; and (8) results and conclusions. The research team developed an overall evaluation parameter to compare disparate trials.
The research team reviewed each study to determine its key features, each worth a specified number of points, with a maximum total of 20 points. The features included a study's (1) duration, (2) frequency of yoga practice, (3) intensity of (length of) each practice, (4) number of yogic elements, (5) inclusion of dietary modification, (6) inclusion of a residential component, (7) the number of weight-related outcome measures, and (8) a discussion of the details of the yogic elements.
Overall, therapeutic yoga programs are frequently effective in promoting weight loss and/or improvements in body composition. The effectiveness of yoga for weight loss is related to the following key features: (1) an increased frequency of practice; (2) a longer intervention duration (3) a yogic dietary component; (4) a residential component; (5) the comprehensive inclusion of yogic components; (5) and a home-practice component.
Yoga appears to be an appropriate and potentially successful intervention for weight maintenance, prevention of obesity, and risk reduction for diseases in which obesity plays a significant causal role.
医学权威机构已认定肥胖是糖尿病、高血压和心血管疾病（CVD）发展的一个致病因素，更广泛地说，是代谢综合征/胰岛素抵抗综合征的致病因素。为了提供能够改变这一致病因素的解决方案，研究人员需要确定有效降低肥胖风险和进行肥胖一级预防的方法。关于瑜伽作为肥胖治疗方法有效性的研究有限，而且各项研究在整体质量和方法严谨性方面存在差异。
本叙述性综述评估了将瑜伽作为减肥干预措施或作为降低肥胖风险或治疗肥胖及以肥胖为致病因素的疾病的手段的临床试验的数量和质量。本综述总结了这些研究的研究设计，并根据当前的证据基础评估了瑜伽对减肥的疗效。
研究团队评估已发表的研究，以确定研究设计的合理性、各项目干预要素的可比性以及结果测量的标准化情况。研究团队在三个主要医学文献数据库（PubMed、PsychInfo和科学网）中使用关键词“瑜伽”和“肥胖”或“瑜伽”和“减肥”进行文献检索。该研究排除了没有与肥胖相关定量测量的临床试验。提取的数据包括每项研究的（1）设计；（2）环境和人群；（3）干预的性质、持续时间和频率；（4）对照组；（5）招募策略；（6）结果测量；（7）数据分析和呈现；以及（8）结果和结论。研究团队制定了一个总体评估参数来比较不同的试验。
研究团队审查了每项研究以确定其关键特征，每个特征赋予特定分数，总分最高为20分。这些特征包括研究的（1）持续时间，（2）瑜伽练习频率，（3）每次练习的强度（时长），（4）瑜伽元素的数量，（5）是否包含饮食调整，（6）是否包含住宿部分，（7）与体重相关的结果测量的数量，以及（8）对瑜伽元素细节的讨论。
总体而言，治疗性瑜伽项目在促进减肥和/或改善身体成分方面通常是有效的。瑜伽对减肥的有效性与以下关键特征有关：（1）练习频率增加；（2）干预持续时间更长；（3）瑜伽饮食成分；（4）住宿部分；（5）瑜伽成分的全面纳入；（6）家庭练习部分。
瑜伽似乎是一种合适且可能成功的干预措施，可用于维持体重、预防肥胖以及降低肥胖起重要致病作用的疾病的风险。
