Hyderabad, June 21 (IANS): Lifestyle diseases have become a major health challenge and yoga can help prevent these, said union Health Minister J.P. Nadda at International Yoga Day celebration here on Sunday.

He said yoga could help change the lifestyle and thus contribute to prevention of lifestyle diseases.

Nadda said he believed that yoga develops the immune system and thus helps the body fight the diseases.

"We have controlled communicable diseases but non-communicable diseases in the form of lifestyle diseases such as hyper-tension, diabetes, cancer, strokes are the biggest public health challenges faced by the society and yoga is a preventable answer to it," he said.

The minister also said yoga should not be viewed merely as a health and physical activity. "This will not do justice to yoga. It is an effort to unite jivatma with parmatma," he said.

He described yoga as a combination of body, heart, sense and soul.

Nadda along with union Minister for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya and leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) performed yoga at Sanjeevaiah Park.

He said yoga should not be an activity for one day but should be inculcated as a habit for a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

The health minister said millions of people across the world participated in the first International Yoga Day. He described it as the word's largest public health activity.

He appreciated the role of the United Nations in declaring June 21 as the International Yoga Day and thanked 193 countries for co-sponsoring the resolution.