Child and parental physical activity: Is there an association with young children activity?

Abstract

Children accumulated more steps on weekdays than at the weekend (F = 18.58, p < 0.001, η = 0.27), while boys presented higher PA than girls (F = 12.42, p = 0.001, η = 0.20), and accomplished the recommended daily PA, in contrast to girls. Mothers and fathers presented similar PA (p = 0.67, η = 0.004), with more steps on weekdays than at the weekend (F = 9.22, p = 0.004, η = 0.16). However, their PA was significantly lower than the recommended. Finally, there were no statistically significant associations between parents' and boys' ambulatory activity either on weekdays (p = 0.938) or at the weekend (p = 0.095). On the contrary, parents' PA explained 47% of girls' PA on weekdays (R = 0.68, F = 22.81, p < 0.001) and 23% at the weekend (R = 0.48, F = 6.40, p = 0.02) Conclusions: Boys appear to be more physically active than girls in Greece, whereas mothers and fathers present similar ambulatory activity. Moreover, parents' PA is related to that of their daughters and not to that of their sons. Taking into account that both girls and parents did not meet PA recommendations, family-based interventions are needed for both children and parents benefit.

Parent-Child Physical Activity Association in Families with 4- to 16-Year-Old Children

“…Consistently with other studies [27,46,47], it was observed that the boys were more physically active than the girls. Although it is difficult to increase the PA of girls, especially during adolescence, it seems that enjoyment and social support for PA are important mediators of adolescent girls' PA [48].…”

“…In contrast, the Groningen Expert Center for Kids with Obesity (GECKO) study, which was based on objectively measured PA in children aged 4-7 years and self-reported PA in parents [27], confirmed a significant PA relationship only between mothers and daughters (not sons). This was analogous to a Greek study on five-to-eight-year-old children that reported that fathers' PA was mainly related to their sons' PA [47]. In the current study, we noticed stronger parent-child associations in children younger than eight years, whereas the SOPHYA study reported the strongest parent-child relationship in children aged 10-12 years [30].…”

Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviors of Young Children: Trends from 2009 to 2018

“…Conversely, ST for 2-5-year-old children should be limited to one hour per day [15,16]. Nevertheless, despite the aforementioned published guidelines, today's young children have been found to be both physically inactive [7,[17][18][19]] and heavily exposed to screens [7,[20][21][22][23].…”

Children of Smoking and Non-Smoking Households’ Perceptions of Physical Activity, Cardiorespiratory Fitness, and Exercise

“…Participating parents in a study by Joseph et al [ 144 ] acknowledged that taking their child to specific locations, such as the park, could help facilitate more PA and parents have previously expressed the desire for more opportunities for parental involvement [ 145 ]. Parental PA and sport participation influences offspring PA [ 147 , 148 ] and MVPA [ 149 ]. A longitudinal study has shown parental PA to be associated with offspring PA from childhood until middle age [ 150 ].…”