An official website of the United States governmentUse of Yoga, Meditation, and Chiropractic by Adults and Children
Data from the 2017 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)* found that U.S. adults’ use of yoga, meditation, and chiropractic increased between 2012 and 2017. And, not only did the use of meditation rise, it more than tripled during this time. Further, the data showed that from 2012 to 2017 the use of yoga and meditation significantly increased among U.S. children (aged 4 to 17 years). The percentage of children using yoga more than doubled and the percentage of children meditating showed an almost tenfold increase.
*The complementary health questionnaire was developed by researchers at the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Previous surveys have identified yoga, meditation, and chiropractic care as some of the most commonly used complementary health approaches, and data from the current survey shows changes over time in the percentage of adults and children who used yoga, meditation, and chiropractors in the past 12 months.
This issue of the digest summarizes the results of the 2017 NHIS and may give you insight into your own patients’ use of these practices.
What the Science Says:
Use of Yoga, Meditation, and Chiropractic by Adults and Children
Modality and Findings from 2017 NHIS
Yoga was the most commonly used complementary health approach among U.S. adults in 2012 (9.5 percent) and 2017 (14.3 percent).
The percentage of U.S. children who used yoga in the past 12 months increased significantly from 3.1 percent in 2012 to 8.4 percent in 2017.
The use of meditation by U.S. adults increased more than threefold from 4.1 percent in 2012 to 14.2 percent in 2017. In 2012, chiropractic care was as popular as yoga, followed by meditation; however, the popularity of meditation surpassed that of chiropractic care to become the second most used approach among those surveyed in 2017.
The use of meditation by U.S. children increased significantly from 0.6 percent in 2012 to 5.4 percent in 2017.
The use of chiropractic care by U.S. adults increased from 9.1 percent in 2012 to 10.3 percent in 2017.
Among U.S. children, there was no significant difference in the use of chiropractic care between 2012 and 2017 (3.5 percent versus 3.4 percent).
Read more about the use of chiropractic care from the 2017 NHIS
Scientific Literature
NCCIH Clinical Digest is a service of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, NIH, DHHS. NCCIH Clinical Digest, a monthly e-newsletter, offers evidence-based information on complementary health approaches, including scientific literature searches, summaries of NCCIH-funded research, fact sheets for patients, and more.
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health is dedicated to exploring complementary health products and practices in the context of rigorous science, training complementary health researchers, and disseminating authoritative information to the public and professionals. For additional information, call NCCIH’s Clearinghouse toll-free at 1-888-644-6226, or visit the NCCIH website at nccih.nih.gov. NCCIH is 1 of 27 institutes and centers at the National Institutes of Health, the Federal focal point for medical research in the United States.
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