It’s not news to anyone that obesity is a hot topic both internationally and here in Australia. Obesity in Australia has more than doubled in the last twenty years, placing us among the fattest nations in the developed world source . According to Monash University obesity has become the single biggest threat to public health in Australia . Estimating the cost of obesity is complicated due to the vast implications obesity has on an individual’s life. However, according to the ‘no time to weight’ report from Obesity Australia, in 2008 the annual financial cost of obesity was estimated at AUD$8.3 billion with an additional AUD$49.9 billion in the form of lost wellbeing, bringing the combined cost of obesity to AUD$58.2 billion. Alarmingly, obesity has now surpassed smoking as the leading cause of premature death and illness in Australia source .

With statistics like this becoming more evident every day, finding effective ways of treating and - crucially - preventing obesity, is absolutely imperative if we are to meet the criteria for Australia’s national health targets, and support the health of our national community into the future. Many obesity specialists have spent the last decade looking for positive and cost-effective ways of addressing and preventing this health crisis. Treatments such as surgery are expensive. Other options, such as widespread educational programs, whilst often effective on the intellectual level, can fail to address the underlying psycho-emotional aspects of the obesity issue. Research has shown that emotional challenges are among the biggest influences on obesity, prompting people to eat beyond the point of satiation, despite being educated about the calorific and nutritional content of food source. Educational programs also do little to treat the potentially addictive nature of some processed foods such as sugar, which our palates become accustomed to over time source. Since the problem of obesity has no single cause, there will be no single solution to the problem of obesity. As the FDA in America suggest, “it (obesity) will be brought under control only as a result of coordinated, complementary efforts from a variety of sectors of society” source .

There is another – perhaps surprising - treatment and prevention option worth considering in conjunction with other strategies for treating obesity. It is an option that supports individuals from multiple angles on the spectrum of obesity considerations – physical, educational, and psycho-emotional source . The option is yoga. Despite its reputation for being all about learning to touch your toes and contemplate your navel, there is an increasing body of research to support the many ways in which the practice of yoga can directly treat and prevent obesity in everyone from children to elderly adults.

Here’s how.

• Yoga practice addresses the underlying nervous system patterns that can drive compulsive behaviour with food. Much of the time in contemporary society, we live within an overstimulating environment, which keeps our nervous system wired and the sympathetic nervous system on alert. The practice of yoga activates the parasympathetic nervous system, also known as the ‘rest and digest’ state. It has been shown that many emotional and stress-eaters turn to food as a method of soothing stress or other emotions that feel unmanageable in the moment. Learning the simple postures, breathing practices and mindful focusing techniques of yoga can greatly increase mental health, and potentially alleviate the urge to use food for self-soothing source http://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/yoga-for-anxiety-and-depression. Yoga is a strategy that can be integrated into the daily life of the individual, providing an effective, affordable and sustainable alternative to the emotional eating which can lead to and exacerbate obesity.

• Yoga supports the balancing of blood sugar levels source http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/011012p12.shtml. Many studies show that eating a diet high in refined sugars and carbohydrates causes swinging in blood sugar levels, which can provoke lethargy, mood swings, and stress. In the long term, relying on refined sugars in the diet can cause diabetes and obesity, as well as perpetuating the reliance on more refined sugars to ‘boost’ blood sugar levels back to a temporary state of energy from the slump of a sugar-low after eating these foods. Yoga provides an alternative way of feeling stabilised, without reliance on refined sugars to impact blood sugar balance.

• Yoga increases positive self-regard, which adds to the motivation to make other self-caring choices. One of the undeniable side-effects (and possible provocations for) obesity is low self-esteem. Many people living in an obese body report feeling very embarrassed and melancholic and often hopeless about themselves as a whole person, not just their body source The practice of yoga can profoundly shift self-perception, as an individual begins to gently challenge their body and explore diverse ways of moving, breathing and existing in their body, which defy the negative perception born of low self-esteem and obesity.

• The yoga community provide a healthy, body-positive environment in which healthy personal choices are more likely to emerge. Research shows that the people we surround ourselves with are indicative of our personal health choices source For example, if Joey eats fast-food hamburgers, and Joey's friends all eat the same kind of hamburgers every day, then Joey is likely to continue doing the same. However the reverse has also been shown to be true. If Joey’s friends decide to switch from hamburgers to nutritious meals most of the time (because they’re feeling good after their yoga practice and no longer desire that greasy feeling in their belly) then Joey is exponentially more likely to make healthier choices himself, and this is then going to positively affect those who spend time with Joey, in a positive loop. The reduction of smoking in Australia is testament to this research. In recent decades the tide has turned in Australia, from smoking as a fashionable pastime, to one which is rarely seen in many areas and populations, due to increased community pressure to stop.

As more and more people take up the practice of yoga and take up the corresponding health choices which yoga practice encourages, the more the wider community is likely to take up healthy practices through the influence of those whose lives are changing around them. • Yoga enables greater access to the power of choice. While the cultural conversation about obesity often revolves around the idea that those who live with this challenge to their physical health are simply lazy, or should make ‘healthier lifestyle choices,’ the reality remains that the problem of learned helplessness, a theory developed by Martin Seligman, is a real issue in recovering from any unwanted behavioural compulsion source.

The premise of learned helplessness is that when we live with unpredictable personal or cultural behaviours (for example, dieting one week then being pulled into excessive eating to self-soothe the next, or growing up around others doing the same) we can spend years trying to overcome something that doesn’t seem to improve, which eventually reinforces the sense that there is nothing one can do to change. This pattern is then a self-fulfilling prophecy, which reinforces addictive or excessive self-soothing behaviours. While it’s important to note that not all people suffering from food addiction become obese, and not all obesity can be attributed to an addiction to food, it is a damaging side effect. It is not uncommon for someone living with obesity to describe their experience with eating and food similarly to those suffering from other addictions. This includes eating even when they do not want to (or know they should not), multiple failed attempts to cut back or stop eating certain foods, continued unhealthy eating despite the negative physical and social consequences, and experiencing physical craving and withdrawal symptoms when certain foods are unavailable source.

Yoga interferes with the loop of addiction and learned helplessness by providing structured practices that redirect self-perception as well as redirecting neural structures to carve new, healthier responses to old stimuli, giving the individual living with obesity greater access to new feelings and behaviours which reflect positive self-regard and encourage new choices. • Yoga practice leads to more mindful eating, which supports healthy weight source https://www.fredhutch.org/en/news/releases/2009/08/yoga.html. A study financed by the National Cancer Institute in the US found that those people practising yoga who were overweight to start with, lost about 5 pounds during the same time period that those not practicing yoga gained 14 pounds source . This influence of yoga on weight loss is suggested to be due to the way in which the practice of yoga enhances mindfulness, which has a positive effect on eating, as each mouthful is fully noticed and appreciated, which reduces the likelihood of mindless overeating and ignoring the body signals of satiation.

As the evidence above reveals, yoga is one of the most potent and important resources we have available to us, for encouraging and supporting widespread public health in Australia. Its direct encouragement of self responsibility ensures it is a cost effective way forward. Yoga is presently most often being taken up as a practice by tertiary educated, employed, health-conscious female adults source. Sadly, this means that a huge proportion of our population are not yet accessing the benefits of yoga practice.The evidence of the positive impact of yoga for preventing and treating obesity suggests that we need to be seriously considering ways of making yoga available and affordable for everyone around Australia, and increasing public awareness about yoga’s many health benefits, beyond touching our toes.