What is the effect of yoga compared to a physical education class on stress reactivity for sixth-grade students?

Abstract

ed by Stephanie Marraffa, a student in the Health and Exercise Science Teaching Program at The College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ. What Was the Question? This study was interested in the physiological responses of children to stressful stimuli or stress reactivity. As the authors noted, stress reactivity in children has been related to important health factors such as hypertension, future blood pressure status, levels of adiposity, and the ability to regulate emotions. While controlled studies have shown improved levels of stress in children who practice yoga, few studies have examined yoga within the context of school, and none have utilized physiological measures to gauge stress reactivity.