Zumba, a high-energy fitness program, originated in the 1990s in Cali, Colombia, when fitness instructor Alberto “Beto” Perez. Perez accidentally created the program when he forgot his usual aerobics music and improvised with his Latin music tapes. The success of this experiment resulted in the development of Zumba, which combines Latin-inspired dance moves with fitness routines. In 2001, Perez partnered with Alberto Perlman and Alberto Aghion to launch Zumba as a global fitness program.
Zumba classes are known for their high-energy dance routines set to Latin and international music, creating a fun and engaging exercise routine. Today, Zumba boasts millions of participants across the globe, spread over numerous locations and is popular in many countries. The program presently has over 200,000 locations across the globe, with over 15 million people taking classes weekly, according to Wikipedia.
Zumba is supposedly great for weight loss, toning, and de-stressing. It’s a type of workout where a person moves the body rhythmically to energetic music. Zumba combines aerobic exercises like lunges, jumping jacks, kicks, and squats to give the body a full-body burn while having fun with music.
Students attend Zumba training at a school in Kochi | PTI
The music is fast-paced and exciting, helping to build endurance, coordination, and confidence after just a few sessions. The benefits claimed are that a session can burn up to 500 calories, making it an energetic and fun way to eliminate fat. It
boosts cardiovascular health, tones the entire body, especially legs, glutes, arms, and core through rhythmic, full-body movement. It improves coordination, balance, and agility, and relieves stress and lifts mood, attributed to feel-good music and an empowering group vibe.
In a paper published in the ‘International Journal of Human Movement and Sports Sciences’ (9(2): 316-323, 2021 http://www.hrpub.org DOI: 10.13189/saj.2021.090220) titled ‘The Effectiveness of Zumba Exercises Training on the Physical and Health Course Outputs among University Students’, authors Mona Soleiman, Ahmed Mahmoud Elkilany, Hager Al-Sayed, and Reda Abdelsalam, and published on March 20th 2021, states “As stated in the WHO Global Action Plan for Disease Prevention, lack of physical activity is a major risk factor for disease, and physical activity is decreasing in many countries. Globally, 23% of adults and 81% of adolescents of school and university age are not sufficiently active. Encouraging people to exercise more is one of the key strategies for reducing the spread of non-communicable diseases and combating them, 2013-2020. The plan calls for a 10% reduction in this lack of physical activity by 2025, which will also contribute to achieving the goals for sustainable development. Kraus evidenced the benefits of regular sport practice in enhancing the quality of practitioners’ life, education, public and their healthcare.”
“The study was conducted in Dammam, Eastern Region in Saudi Arabia during four weeks in the first term from 1 to 25 September 2019. The researchers touched on the importance of the community they work in, which is the university community and the extent of the impact that their work can have to improve the health of female students and get them used to practicing sports, not only according to the curriculum, which is given once a week, but to try to increase that number. The physical and health education course was introduced to the preparatory year courses of Imam Abdul Rahman bin Faisal University in 2012 as an educational course for female students. It is the first university in the Kingdom where this course is taught with a practical part, and its goal is to raise the level of fitness for female students, which is a precedent giving credit for Imam Abdul Rahman bin Faisal University and then other universities have followed their steps, therefore, the rationale for the present study”.
Zumba class
Further, “Zumba exercises do not follow traditional training methods; Zumba uses all basic fitness elements, and during the training unit, it uses a lot of the person’s physical strength, and all parts of the body are moved from head to toe. With these movements, the body uses a lot of essential muscles and works to harmonise them. The researchers also suggested that the improvement of the students’ level can be attributed to the effectiveness of the motor duty and its consideration of the psychological state of students who feel ashamed and afraid of criticism. Also, the teacher’s follow-up of her students in terms of their implementation of the exercises, addressing the problems they faced and correcting what they stumbled upon in doing at home if there is, besides the commitment of the students to carry out the duty periodically as they are accustomed to, all this help improve the level of their physical and motor fitness and thus increase their self-confidence.”
The Zumba fitness drive was introduced in the current academic year of 2025 by the Kerala government. The State is reeling under the deleterious influence of strong synthetic drugs. Reports of escalating drug-related crime have sent shockwaves across the state. The current situation paints a grim picture. Kerala recorded 27,701 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in 2024, which is more than three times Punjab’s 9,025 cases. Kerala has the highest rate of drug-related cases in India, with 78 cases per lakh people in 2024, compared to Punjab’s 30. Over the past four years, Kerala registered 87,101 drug-related cases, marking a 130 per cent increase compared to the previous four-year period. Every district is affected. 30 murders in the first two months of 2025 were linked to substance abuse—that’s half of all the murders in the state. Data indicates a sharp rise in cases involving minors and first-time users, underscoring the extreme severity of the situation. Medical experts, sociologists, psychiatrists, social workers and enforcement agencies are desperately hunting for a peaceful resolution to the problem. The idea of introducing Zumba as a fitness program was instituted in the belief that it would enable the authorities to better control the drug problem. However, nobody anticipated that it would run into stiff opposition from the religious lobby.
Religious zealots are up in arms opposing Zumba. Conservative religious interpretation of even a fitness program is drawing the ire of another set of activists. However, various governments in different countries are exploring the efficacy of Zumba for weaning youngsters away from drug culture. The Philippines’ government has prescribed Zumba classes for drug addicts. Every drug addict has to register themselves for a Zumba class. If anybody is absent, the police are notified, and they visit their houses to compel them to attend Zumba class. Jordan, Saudi Arabia, UAE have all initiated Zumba classes in educational institutions. The Hashemite University in Jordan initiated Zumba classes as early as 2007. Zumba is referred to as the ‘Happiness Vitamin’.
With elections around the corner, the present ruling government has taken a calculated gamble to woo young voters, many of them first-time voters, by initiating Zumba classes. They have intelligently showcased Zumba sessions as a weapon against drug abuse, and also as an enjoyable physical fitness program. Any move to stop it will invite severe backlash from the young crowd. That would explain the firmness of the ruling party that Zumba will not be withdrawn. Opposition political parties are well aware that if they oppose Zumba, their electoral prospects will be dimmed. CM Pinarayi Vijayan has kick-started a killer dance move, to woo the young crowd, a first of its kind, by any State government. He must be betting that votes will also do a Zumba to catapult him back to power.
The author is former Director General of National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics