People participate in a mass yoga session on International Yoga Day in Times Square on June 21, 2023 in New York City. The CDC finds about 17% of adults in the U.S.
practice yoga. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption In the U.S.
, about 1 out of 6 adults say they practice yoga, according to new survey data published Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 80% are practicing to improve their health, and some 30% are using it to treat and manage pain. “Yoga is a complementary health approach used to promote health and well-being,” says Nazik Elgaddal, an IT specialist at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics who co-authored a data brief on the topic.
” The stretching and strengthening exercise has been shown to reduce stress and help with some types of neck and back pain. The survey also found that women are twice as likely to do yoga than men – with more than 23% of U.S.
women practicing it. Yoga is most popular among people who are Asian or White, though there are plenty of people who are Black, Hispanic or of other races doing yoga too. People with higher incomes were more likely to do yoga.
The survey did not distinguish between yoga done in person or online, notes Elgaddal, who takes yoga classes offered by her workplace on Zoom. It found that more than half of the respondents also meditate as a part of their practice. The data comes from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey, and is published in a June 2024 data brief.
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