ASSESSMENT OF YOGIC IMPACT ON COGNITIVE ABILITY OF CHILDREN EXPOSED TO AIR POLLUTION

Abstract

Air pollution, a major threat to human kind owing to its adverse impacts on human health produces disproportionate burden on different group of individuals. Pollution has considerable effect on economy in view of health, loss of productivity and ecosystem damages. It has been reported that the exposure to increased levels of air pollutants produce detrimental effects especially on the vulnerable groups, i.e., children, elderly people and women. The cost of pollution is degeneration of human abilities and disruption of human intelligence. Pollution poses a direct threat to respecting human rights, protecting and promoting child rights and assurance related to right to health, life, food and water, towards a pollution free planet, safeguarding a healthy and sustainable environment for present and future generations. Thus, understanding the varying impacts of air pollution on different individuals can be considered as the stepping stone for eradicating the issue in hand.

Therefore, to study the impact of air pollution on the cognitive ability of children the researcher identifies the respondents (10-15 Years age) from schools situated both in highly polluted and least polluted areas as per the data from AP pollution control Board. The air pollution levels near the school areas are tested and cognitive development of children are tested through a standard Malin′s Intelligence Scale to find out the impact of pollution on cognitive development. This study evaluates the impact of a 12-week yogic breathing intervention on IQ scores in four groups exposed to varying pollution levels. Despite equivalent baseline IQs, highly polluted groups showed massive gains (+53 IQ points on average, 100% improvement rate), while less polluted groups had minimal or negative changes (+9.6 points, 48.7% improvement). Paired t-tests confirmed significant within-group changes (all p < 0.006), and between-group t-tests revealed a very large pollution-moderated effect (d = 1.561, p < 0.0001). Results suggest yogic breathing powerfully counters pollution-related cognitive deficits, with implications for public health in polluted regions.