Gender Influences on Physical Activity Awareness of Adolescents and Their Parents

Abstract

The imbalances between the actual physical activity (PA) of adolescents and the subjective perception both they and their parents have in this regard can play an important role in perpetuating inactive lifestyles. The aim of this study is to analyse these discrepancies by considering gender as a conditioning factor. The participants in the study were 1697 adolescents, 1244 mothers and 1052 fathers in the educational communities of 26 secondary schools located in urban environments of the Autonomous Community of Galicia (Spain). With regard to actual physical activity, a high prevalence of sedentarism (82.1%) was revealed, this being even more acute in girls (87.8%). However, the perceived levels of activity differed significantly from the actual ones with a clear general overestimation both by the adolescents and their parents. When further exploring the data, gender influences were also detected both in adolescent and parental perceptions, since the high rates of overestimation in sedentary individuals were lower in girls and, on the contrary, the low rates of underestimation in active individuals were higher in girls. Moreover, although the level of agreement between actual and perceived physical activity was low overall, with Cohen’s kappa values ranging from 0.006 to 0.047, the lowest values were observed in the case of girls. In conclusion, both the adolescents and their parents were incapable of correctly assessing the actual physical activity of the former, so it seems that the general population lacks knowledge about the amount of physical activity that adolescents need to do to achieve a healthy lifestyle. Consequently, it would be advisable to implement health education campaigns and awareness-raising interventions directed to young people as well as to their parents and, in doing so, gender must be considered by establishing distinct program designs in terms of this variable.

Patterns of Physical Activity of Adolescents With ADHD in the School Context: A Cross-Sectional Study for Clinical Practice

“…Regarding differences in terms of PA patterns in adolescents with ADHD, the second most important result of this study is that there were significant differences between boys and girls in terms of the achievement of PA recommendations for health and the amount of PA performed at lunchtime. This finding coincides with the existing literature since girls are less active than boys (Béghin et al, 2019; Camacho-Miñano et al, 2011; Kallio et al, 2020; Lago-Ballesteros et al, 2021; Mercurio et al, 2021; Moreno-Llamas et al, 2021; Owen et al, 2017; Rosselli et al, 2020). On the other hand, our data reflects that during lunchtime, 88.9% of girls with ADHD, sat down, stood down, or walked around.…”

“…This statement agrees with Cook et al (2015) who claim that youth with ADHD are significantly less likely than their peers to meet recommendations for vigorous PA (3 days per week or month). As mentioned, in terms of gender, according to literature girls are less active than boys (Béghin et al, 2019;Camacho-Miñano et al, 2011;Kallio et al, 2020;Lago-Ballesteros et al, 2021;Mercurio et al, 2021;Moreno-Llamas et al, 2021;Owen et al, 2017;Rosselli et al, 2020). Worryingly, in this sense, MVPA declines by approximately 4.2% to 7% per year between ages 12 and 18 years, and more recent studies indicate that girls' PA levels decline at a greater rate than boys (Borde et al, 2017;Jones et al, 2020;Owen et al, 2017;Pearson et al, 2015;Spencer et al, 2015).…”

Motivation and active travel in adolescent girls and boys in Germany – Findings from the ARRIVE study

“…As described above, traveling includes the non-optional component of 'must arrive somewhere'. Additionally, adolescents seem to be mostly unaware, on how much PA is needed to achieve a healthy lifestyle (Lago-Ballesteros, García-Pascual, González-Valeiro, & Fernández-Villarino, 2021). Thus, if one manages to reach a destination somehow, adolescents might not perceive choosing a passive mode of transport as 'failure' because one still has achieved to arrive at the desired destination.…”

Analysis of Association between Adolescents’ Food Habits and Body Mass Change in a Population-Based Sample: Diet and Activity of Youth during COVID-19 (DAY-19) Study

“…The mechanism observed in the presented study for male adolescents may be also confirmed by the studies of the other authors, as it is stated that athletic adolescents present healthier food habits than non-athletic ones [ 66 , 67 ]. Such difference may be explained by the different roles of physical activity for boys and girls—as boys are in general more physically active than girls [ 68 ] and overestimate their level more than girls [ 69 ], it may be supposed that physical activity may be for them more important and they may present some actions to increase their physical fitness, while for girls only decreasing fitness may motivate them to counteract it.…”