Parental Influences and the Relationship to their Children’s Physical Activity Levels

Engaging in a physically active lifestyle relates positively to current health and reduces chances of chronic diseases in the future. Given escalating health care costs, it is paramount to reduce illnesses associated with a lack of physical activity and thus critical to identify factors that influence physical activity - especially in children, with the opportunity for a lifetime impact. One of these influencing factors may be parents/guardians. The intent of this study was to examine the relationship between children's physical activity levels and parental factors including parental physical activity, support/encouragement, restrictiveness, and self-reported participation. Data was collected from 15 child-parent pairs with children ranging in age from 7 to 10 years. Daily physical activity levels were determined from pedometer data using a Piezo SC-Step Pedometer. Number of steps and moderate and vigorous physical activity were extracted from the pedometers and levels of support/encouragement, restrictiveness, and participation were quantified from parents' self-reported responses to a questionnaire created for this study. Pearson Product correlation analyses were carried out between: the children's and parent steps (r = -0.069; p = 0.597); children's steps and parent's self-reported encouragement/support (r = 0.045, p = 0.563); children's steps and parents' self-reported restrictiveness (r = -.0254, p = 0.820); and children's steps and parents' self-reported participation (r = -0.002, p = 0.503). The lack of significant relationships among these variables implies that more complex interactions occur between children and their parents regarding physical activity with children's participation influenced by other factors.