Objectives: 1) To compare the effects of yoga on health and physical fitness of female adolescents who practised yoga with those who did not practise yoga. 2) To compare the health and physical fitness of female adolescents before and after practicing yoga.
Material and Methods: Subjects were female students studying at Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai Campus. Randomization with the computerized minimization program (version 2.0) was used to assign female adolescents to a practising yoga group (n = 64) or a control group (n = 64). Female adolescents in the experimental group practised yoga for 12 weeks. Health questionnaires and physical fitness forms were used for data collection. Frequency, mean, standard deviation, repeated measures ANOVA, t-test and paired t-test were employed for data analysis.
Results: After intervention, the results showed that the female adolescents who practised yoga in the experiment group had mean scores for physical health, mental health, social health, and spiritual health were significantly higher than those of female adolescents who did not practise yoga in the control group (p < .01- p < .001). Also the overall physical fitness, flexibility and vital capacity were statistically significantly improved (p < .05). However, body fat, grip strength, leg strength, and aerobic capacity were not significantly different.
The scores of the physical health, mental health, social health and spiritual health of the female adolescents who practised yoga were statistically significantly higher after the experiment than before the experiment. (p < .001). Also the overall physical fitness, flexibility and vital capacity were statistically significantly improved (p < .01- p < .001). However, body fat, grip strength, leg strength, aerobic capacity showed no statistically significant change.
Conclusion: The results of this study have shown that female adolescents who practised yoga had better physical health, mental health, social health, spiritual health, and physical fitness. Thus, practising yoga can be applied for health promotion of female adolescents.