“In my day…”- Parents’ Views on Children’s Physical Activity and Screen Viewing in Relation to Their Own Childhood

Abstract

Physical activity and screen viewing are associated with cardio-metabolic risk factors, psychological wellbeing, and academic performance among children. Across the last generation, children’s physical activity and screen viewing behaviours have changed, coinciding with changes to the home and neighbourhood environment. This study aimed to qualitatively explore parents’ views on their 8–9-year-old child’s childhood and how this compares to experiences from their own childhood, with a specific focus on physical activity and screen viewing behaviours. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 51 parents (mean age = 41.2 years, range 31.5 to 51.5 years), between July and October 2016. Inductive and deductive content analyses were used to explore parents’ perceptions of their child’s physical activity and screen viewing behaviours in comparison to their own childhood behaviours. Interview data revealed that compared to the relative freedom they recalled as children, parents restrict their children’s independent mobility and outdoor play due to concerns about safety. Despite their children having greater access to structured activities than they did as children, parents feel their children are “missing out,” and perceived their own childhood as better with regards to maximising independent and outdoor play and limiting screen viewing. Innovative strategies are needed to change the social norms surrounding children’s independent mobility and outdoor play.

Parents’ Willingness and Perception of Children’s Autonomy as Predictors of Greater Independent Mobility to School

“…Similarly, the results of this study showed that the parents in the no IM group perceived more dangers in streets, on footpaths and crossings, and in shops and supermarkets. A recent study [ 28 ] showed how parents reduced their children’s IM and playing outdoors because they were worried about their safety, which was also related with their level of socio-economic hardships. However, they also perceived their own childhood as being better, and they acknowledged that they should maximize their child’s independent outdoor play and limit them using screens on electronic devices.…”

“…Previous studies [ 26 , 27 , 28 ] have revealed some spatial, social and cultural changes that have affected the behavior of children: children spend less time playing in cities; the public space in which they can play and socialize has become smaller; the freedom with which they move about has been cut. Moreover, the following reasons all entail less outdoor play: fewer children in today’s society, the few children families have, parents’ and children’s growing safety concerns, and middle-class homes buying more indoor cultural resources [ 26 , 28 ].…”

“…Previous studies [ 26 , 27 , 28 ] have revealed some spatial, social and cultural changes that have affected the behavior of children: children spend less time playing in cities; the public space in which they can play and socialize has become smaller; the freedom with which they move about has been cut. Moreover, the following reasons all entail less outdoor play: fewer children in today’s society, the few children families have, parents’ and children’s growing safety concerns, and middle-class homes buying more indoor cultural resources [ 26 , 28 ]. The study by Brussoni et al [ 29 ] reflects the importance of encouraging opportunities to play outdoors because if 7–15-year olds play games like “disappearing” or “getting lost”, and engage in risky outdoor play, such leisure allows their physical activity and psychosocial health to increase, while supervised children live more sedentary lifestyles [ 15 , 30 ].…”

A Longitudinal Study of the Associations of Family Structure with Physical Activity across the Week in Boys and Girls

“…It may be that girls without siblings have fewer opportunities for companion play and therefore spend more time in solitary pursuits, which are often sedentary. A recent qualitative study found that parents restrict their children’s independent mobility and outdoor play due to concerns about safety [38], and so it may be that girls without siblings have more restrictions on their outdoor play on weekends. However, the associations between the number of siblings and girls’ physical activity in the present study were only very small.…”

Premature Professionalisation or Early Engagement? Examining Practise in Football Player Pathways

“…Research exploring the developmental histories of elite and non-elite athletes (e.g., Baker et al, 2003 ; Côté et al, 2005 ; Gulbin et al, 2010 ), as well as more anecdotal descriptions of free-play, diversification and development (as evidenced in the development of elite Brazilian footballers; Ford et al, 2012 ), is purported to offer clues to best practise, generating “evidence-based” practises which can be adopted and applied by sports and organisations in the pursuit of excellence. However, western society has changed, and children are unable to acquire the same amount of outdoor free-play than that of previous generations (Solomon-Moore et al, 2018 ). This descriptive focus also fails to appreciate that talent development is a biopsychosocial issue and optimum solutions will be contextualised based on the interaction between physical and mechanical attributes (the “bio”), psycho-behavioural characteristics (the “psycho”), and the sociocultural environment/milieu in which the individual exists (the “social”) (Collins and MacNamara, 2019 ).…”