The Beneficial Effects of Moxibustion on Overweight Adolescent Girls

Abstract

Among adolescent girls, overweight or obesity has both physical and psychological involvement. We conducted a randomized controlled trial of moxibustion using a moxa burner. Fifty-four eligible girls aged 15-18 years with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25.3 were enrolled in the study. The girls were randomly allocated to the treatment (n = 27) and control (n = 27) groups. The girls underwent treatment three times per week for 8 weeks (24 treatments). Moxibustion was applied to the RN12, RN6, ST25, ST36, and SP6 acupoints. Physical assessments were BMI, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and body fat ratio (BFR). Psychological outcomes were measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE). Data were collected at the beginning of the study (baseline), week 4, and week 8. Of the 54 participants, 46 completed the trial. The difference in mean BMI from baseline between the two groups was 0.097 (p=0.655) at week 4 and -0.794 (p=0.001) at week 8. The mean WHR of the treatment group was significantly reduced compared with baseline, with a -0.011 (p=0.017) and -0.035 (p < 0.001) mean change at weeks 4 and 8, respectively. The mean BFR was slightly reduced (-0.253;p=0.474 ) at week 4 compared with baseline in the treatment group. At week 8, it was significantly reduced (-2.068; p < 0.001) from baseline in the treatment group. The mean RSE in the treatment group showed no significant increase from baseline at week 4 (0.155 points, p=0.803), but it improved significantly from baseline at week 8 (1.606 points, p=0.021) compared to that in the control group. No obvious adverse effect was reported during this study. Moxibustion using a moxa burner may be an effective and safe intervention for overweight adolescent girls, having both physical and psychological benefits.

Figure 1

Moxa burner (a) and an example of moxibustion intervention (b). The participant (lay down) held two moxa burners applied to bilateral ST25, while the fellow participant held two burners applied to bilateral SP6 for the first 10 minutes. After the moxa burners were cleaned, the participant shifted two moxa burners to RN12 and RN6, while the fellow participant applied the moxa burners to bilateral ST36 for another 10 minutes. After a complete 20-minute intervention, the two participants swapped their positions for another 20-minute moxibustion treatment.

Figure 2

Screening, randomization, and evaluation algorithm.

Figure 3

Mean changes in four variables at weeks 4 and 8 by the treatment group. The mean changes in body mass index (a), waist-to-hip ratio (b), body fat ratio (c), and rosenberg self-esteem scale (d) were measured at baseline, week 4, and week 8 between the treatment group and control croup. ^∗p < 0.05, ^∗∗p < 0.01, and ^∗∗∗p < 0.001.