Rejected Lancet Correspondence: Workplace health promotion in India

The following rejected correspondence was written in respond to the editorial published in the Lancet Public Health. 

Title: Workplace health promotion in India

Vivek Podder; Tetsuya Tanimoto

The Lancet editorial (November 18, p 508)1 highlighted high-quality public health research for effective, low-cost interventions for workplace-related health. However, it may not work for people with poor health literacy and low socioeconomic conditions, especially in non-western countries. 

For example, as a middle-income nation, India is passing through a rapid economic growth, but health promotion is often neglected at workplace. As per a report from Indian study, over 55% of private employees in India do not perform any exercise and 68% of women are afflicted with different occupational lifestyle diseases.2 In India, increasing number of chronic diseases, which the World Health Organization has attributed to physical inactivity as a key risk factor, can bring economic loss of over $235 billion.3 

Therefore, it is warranted to take cultural contest into account; in case of India, Yoga would be a cost-effective and potentially effective intervention for counterproductive work behavior and preventing chronic diseases, although there is a paucity of high-quality evidence on long-term Yoga benefits being conducted at workplace. 

A growing body of evidence suggests Yoga practices, an ancient Indian discipline originating 4000 years ago, can reduce risk of cardiovascular diseases, improving physical health and wellbeing in a range of population and may benefit several workplace wellness needs of both employees and employers who are overweight, or with restricted joint mobility, are unable to participate in the conventional physical exercise at a low-cost.4,5 This would be well-suited for lower socioeconomic groups which may transform occupational health at the workplace. 

1. The LP. Public health and the workplace: a new era dawns. The Lancet Public health 2018; 3(11): 508. 

2. Officechai. 45% Of Young Indian Professionals Suffer From From Lifestyle Disorders. https://officechai.com/news/45-of-young-indian-professionals-suffer-lifestyle-disorders/ Date: 2016; Date accessed: November 29, 2018. 

3. Kirsten W Promoting physical activity at the workplace: a global view. Br J Sports Med. 2010; 44: 73-74. 

4. Hartfiel N, Havenhand J, Khalsa SB, Clarke G, Krayer A. The effectiveness of yoga for the improvement of well-being and resilience to stress in the workplace. Scand J Work Environ Health 2011; 1:70-6. 

5. TIME. Yoga Is Officially Sweeping the Workplace. http://time.com/4624276/yoga-workplacemindfulness/ Date: 2017; Date accessed: November 30, 2019.