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

Abstract

Background: The main aim of this study was to quantify the associations between parents’ and children’s physical activity by age, gender, and the day of the week on the basis of a pedometer-measured step count (SC). Methods: The sample comprised data from 4-to 16-year-old children and their parents from the Czech Republic (1102 mother-child dyads and 693 father-child dyads). The parents and their children wore the Yamax SW200 pedometer during seven days of monitoring. Results: The strongest SC association was found between mothers and daughters aged 4–7.9 years on weekdays (rp = 0.402; p < 0.01) and at weekends (rp = 0.577; p < 0.01). In children aged 8–16, the parent-child association is gender-specific, with the father-son relationship being dominant, especially at weekends (weekend SC: fathers-sons8–11.9 y rp = 0.416, p < 0.01; fathers-sons12–16 y rp = 0.443, p < 0.01). An increase of 1000 steps in the fathers (mothers) is associated with an increase of more than 400 (200) steps in their sons (daughters). Conclusions: This study confirms a strong parent-child SC relationship in children younger than eight years of age. In older children, the parent-child SC association is gender-specific and dominated by the father-son relationship, particularly on weekends. The SC associations that are revealed can be used for the development of physical activity programs for adolescents.

Contextualizing Parental/Familial Influence on Physical Activity in Adolescents before and during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Prospective Analysis

“…First, it is deemed that fathers provide a better example and model of sports skills, since men are generally more involved in sports activities than women/mothers [ 40 ]. Second, it seems that maternal influence on their children’s behavior decreases with age, while the father–child relationship is relatively stable in terms of the PAL [ 23 ].…”

“…Under normal circumstances, parents and children usually spend a lot of time together. Parents determine and influence their children’s life habits [ 44 ], and this logically transfers even to physical activity habits [ 23 ]. More specifically, parents have a crucial role in the development of the social customs of their children.…”

“…Family factors such as parental education, parental social support, and family structure, greatly impact the health-related habits of children, including their PALs [ 23 , 24 ]. Specific to the COVID-19 pandemic, Moore et al recently reported that parental encouragement and parental co-participation are highly associated with healthy movement behaviors of Canadian children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 25 ].…”

“…Specific to the COVID-19 pandemic, Moore et al recently reported that parental encouragement and parental co-participation are highly associated with healthy movement behaviors of Canadian children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 25 ]. Indeed, parents have an extremely important role in providing guidelines for maintaining adequate PAL, which are crucial for developing healthy movement habits in their children [ 23 ]. Due to the stay-home recommendations during the pandemic, youth have been spending more time at home with their parents and are under greater parental influence.…”

“…However, there is a lack of international data regarding the changes in PAL in adolescents, especially taking into account factors influencing PAL and COVID-19-induced changes in PAL. Finally, previous studies noted familial factors as important determinants of PAL, but the problem is understudied with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic [ 23 , 25 ]. As a result, this study aimed to evaluate the dynamics of changes in PAL among adolescents from Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) and to evaluate sociodemographic, and parental/familial factors which may influence PAL before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and imposed lockdown.…”