Active Parents Raise Active Children
Lynn L. Moore et al. · 1991
"A child's physical activity level correlates far more strongly with an active mother than with an active father — and children of two active parents are nearly six times more likely to be active than children of two inactive parents."
Researchers strapped accelerometers onto 100 four-to-seven-year-olds and both of their parents for a full year. The pattern that fell out was not subtle.
Published in the Journal of Pediatrics from the Framingham Children's Study, the study found children of active mothers were about twice as likely to be active themselves; children of active fathers, only modestly more so. When both parents were active, children were 5.8 times more likely to be active than children of two inactive parents. The authors point to several possible mechanisms: parents as role models the child imitates, shared family activity time, and active parents actively enrolling their kids in physical pursuits.
In the Framingham Children's Study, which parent's activity level correlated most strongly with a young child's own physical activity?
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The explanation above is written with AI assistance. These are the originals — go to them to check it.
- Influence of parents' physical activity levels on activity levels of young childrenJournal of Pediatrics, 118(2):215-9
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