Parent Physical Activity is More Associated with Child Sport Participation Than Accelerometer-Assessed Child Physical Activity

Parent physical activity (PA) levels may influence the PA levels of their children, either through general activity or sport participation. However, the strength of those associations needs further exploration. Moreover, factors such as child PA self-efficacy, family support of PA, and family structure may also influence these associations and research is lacking among rural families. PURPOSE: To examine the associations between parent PA levels and child PA levels including sport participation, and to further explore the role of the aforementioned variables in the relationship. METHODS: Baseline data were analyzed on 105 child-parent dyads (child age = 8.95+1.1 years, parent age = 37.9+5.4 years) from the NU-HOME study, a childhood obesity prevention, RCT in a rural community. Data included parent self-reported PA (daily total PA and daily total moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA)), family structure (child to adult ratio), and child sport participation in the past year; child-reported PA self-efficacy and family support for PA; and objective child PA levels from accelerometry (daily total PA and daily total MVPA). Child daily total MVPA did not meet acceptable normality and was log transformed for analyses. Multivariate regression models controlling for economic assistance were analyzed using SAS 9.4. RESULTS: Children participated in 2.4+1.5 sports in the past year. Mean child daily total MVPA was 44.9+18.6 minutes, while mean parent daily total MVPA was 25.5+25.3 minutes. Parent PA was not significantly associated with child daily total PA or child daily total MVPA. However, after adjusting for economic assistance, parent PA was significantly associated with child sport participation separately (p<0.005) and in models that included child PA self-efficacy, family support of PA, and family structure (p<0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Present study findings that parent PA was significantly associated with child sport participation, but not objective measures of child PA suggests that active parents may encourage and support their children’s sport participation. Sport participation may provide personal, social, as well as physical benefits for children. The findings of this study highlight the importance of exploring sport participation when investigating activity behavior particularly among rural children.