A Novel High Intensity Short Interval Dance Intervention (THANDAV) to Improve Physical Fitness in Asian Indian Adolescent Girls

Background: There exist several barriers to physical activity (PA) among adolescent girls. We therefore developed a culturally acceptable dance/fitness intervention called THANDAV (Taking HIIT And Dance to Adolescents for Victory over NCDs). The main aim of this study was to evaluate the THANDAV protocol among Asian Indian girls aged 10 to 17 years.

Materials and Methods: THANDAV consisted of a 10-minute routine with high and low intensity dance steps which was taught to 23 adolescent girls. Heart Rate (HR), Energy expenditure (EE), body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure (BP) were recorded. Focused group discussions (FGDs) were conducted after the quantitative measurements were completed.

Results: The average age of the girls was 13.9± 2.1 years, and the mean BMI and BP were 19.8 ± 3.3 kg/m2 and 107/68 (± 8/7) mm/HG respectively. All participants achieved 80% of their max HR during the first dance and managed to sustain this HR throughout the 10-min routine. There was a significant increase in the HR (bpm) [88.7±8.4 to 195.6±11.8, p<0.001] and VO2 (L/min) [0.025±0.0 to 0.395±0.1, p<0.001] post intervention. Average energy cost of the activity (MET) was 6.3. The FGDs revealed that THANDAV was a socially acceptable, fun and energetic form of physical activity.

Conclusions: The THANDAV dance intervention meets HIIT norms and is a novel, culturally appropriate form of PA that is enjoyable, takes little time and can be done at home. It has the potential to be a sustainable intervention to improve cardiorespiratory fitness and prevent NCDs in Asian Indian adolescent girls.