enormous socioeconomic

and public health burden in developed, developing and in poor countries of the world.

Overeating energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods and a sedentary lifestyle have led to an epidemic

of obesity and type 2 diabetes all over the world (Goran, 2003). It is a global health problem.

In the developed world, it is one of the major health issues and results in poor outcomes in the

form of higher mortality and morbidity in obesity has been in the past thirty years. The growing

problem of obesity is associated with multiple morbidities, including increased risk of diabetes,

hypertension, heart disease, sleep apnea and cancer. Diet and exercise focused strategies are

not effective in preventing obesity and maintaining weight loss (Ahima, 2011). Apart from

physical problems there are issues which affect psychological well-being of an individual.

Depression is the most common psychological co-morbidity of obesity. A wide range of

treatment options are available but balanced nutrition diet and regular physical activity are

considered to be the safest and the easiest option (WHO,2000).

Other options are medication and surgery. Each of these treatment options have some or the

other lacunae. Anti-obesity drugs aim to reduce food intake by either reducing appetite or

suppressing the desire for food. Many of these have been associated with severe side effects.

Bariatric surgery is an effective treatment for long-term weight loss in morbid obesity. In fact,

orlistat is the only available long-term treatment for obesity. Several additional gut hormonebased

treatments for obesity are under ( Derosa & Maffioli, 2012).

Childhood obesity is an issue of serious medical and social concern due to the adoption of a

western lifestyle. Consumption of high calorie food, lack of physical activity and increased

time on viewing television are major risk factors for childhood obesity. Obese adolescents are

more prone to adopt the risk of medical and psychological complications like Insulin resistance,

dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, polycystic ovarian syndrome and

metabolic syndrome in their adulthood. As prevention and treatment of obesity involves

lifestyle modification of the entire family (Seth & Sharma, 2013). Excess bodyweight is the

most important risk factor contributing to the overall burden of disease worldwide. Yoga has

been found to be an effective tool for the management of obesity. Regular Yoga practice was

associated with reducing weight gain, most strongly among individuals who were overweight.