The relationship among family health climate, parents’ physical activity and their 9-10-year-old children inactivity

Abstract

Background. Health climate in the family is important for health behavior in children (Erkelenz, 2014). The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between family physical activity related health climate, physical activity (PA) and children‘s sedentary behavior. Methods. This cross-sectional study included 284 children of 9-10-years-old age and their parents or guardians. Family PA related health climate was measured by PA sub-scale of Family Health Climate Scale (Niermann et al, 2014). Parents PA was evaluated using Leisure Time PA questionnaire (Godin & Shepard, 2011). Children’s self-reported time in hours and minutes spent per day by watching TV, playing computer games, doing homework, reading and other sedentary activities was collected. Findings. Descriptive statistics showed that 9-10 year-old children are sedentary about 430 minutes per day on average. Results of hierarchical regression analysis, controlling for child and parent genders, parental age and education and child‘s PA, did not reveal any significant relationships among children‘s sedentary behavior and family PA related health climate or parents’ PA (p>.05). However correlation analysis indicated that higher parents‘ PA was associated with better climate in the Values, Cohesion and Information areas as well as total PA related family climate (p<.05). Discussion. Children are inactive almost the rest of the day after school. Neither positive family PA climate nor parents‘ PA make significant impact on child‘s inactivity. Parents’ motivation to engage their children in PA and children’s motivation to be engaged in PA should be further investigated.