Yoga’s potential for promoting healthy eating and physical activity behaviors among young adults: a mixed-methods study

Table 1 Demographic and lifestyle characteristics of young adult participants

	Survey Sample^a			Interview Sample^b
	Non- Practitioners^c (n = 1523)	Yoga Practitioners^c (n = 297)		Yoga Practitioners^c (n = 46)
	Mean/% (CI)	Mean/% (CI)	p-value^d	Mean/% (CI)	p-value^e
Demographic Characteristics^f
Age, yrs	31.1 (31.0–31.2)	30.8 (30.7–31.0)	.01	30.6 (20.1–31.1)	.16
Gender, % female	52.2 (49.7–54.8)	79.8 (74.8–84.0)	<.001	73.9 (59.2–84.7)	.28
Educational Attainment, % bachelor degree	49.3 (46.8–51.9)	69.9 (64.5–74.9)	<.001	76.1 (61.5–86.4)	.32
Ethnicity/race, % non-white	32.7 (30.3–35.1)	26.3 (21.6–31.6)	.03	17.4 (8.9–31.3)	.14
Weight status, % overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m²)	62.2 (59.7–64.7)	44.4 (38.6–50.3)	<.001	51.1 (36.6–65.4)	.32
Lifestyle Characteristics^a
Fruit and Vegetables, servings/day [IQR = 2.8–6.8; n = 1592]	5.1 (4.9–5.3)	6.4 (5.9–6.8)	<.001	6.1 (5.1–7.1)	.30
Fast Food Frequency, %			<.001
Never	37.5 (35.1–40.0)	55.2 (49.5–60.8)		52.2 (37.8–66.3)	.78
1–2 times/week	44.7 (42.2–47.2)	40.1 (34.6–45.8)		41.3 (27.9–56.1)
3+ times/week	17.8 (16.0–19.8)	4.7 (2.8–7.8)		6.5 (2.1–18.6)
Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, servings/day [IQR = 0–0.6; n = 1591]	0.6 (0.5–0.7)	0.3 (0.2–0.3)	<.001	0.1 (0.1–0.2)	.01
Snack Foods, servings/day [IQR = 0.6–1.6; n = 1592]	1.3 (1.2–1.3)	1.2 (1.1–1.3)	.10	1.0 (0.8–1.2)	.06
MVPA, hours/week [IQR = 1.3–6.6; n = 1820]	4.1 (3.9–4.3)	5.4 (4.9–5.8)	<.001	6.8 (5.8–7.9)	.003

BMI, Body Mass Index, MVPA, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; CI, 95% confidence interval; IQR, Interquartile Range
^aSurvey sample includes the young adults who completed the Project EAT-IV survey, presented by yoga practitioner status
^bInterview sample is the subsample of young adults who completed the Project EAT-IV survey who also participated in qualitative interviews
^cYoga practitioner defined as practicing yoga for ≥30 min/week over the past year; Non-practitioner is all others (less frequent yoga practice or no yoga practice)
^dDifference between yoga practitioners and non-practitioners in the survey sample determined by ttest or chi²
^eDifference between the interview sample and yoga practitioners in the survey sample determined by ttest or chi²
^fSample size for each variable varies slightly due to a small amount of missing data

ISSN: 1479-5868