Thursday, June 21, 2012

Are Parents Poor Role Models With Physical Activity?

Children who said their parents do almost no physical activity have a 50 per cent greater risk of being unfit than children with more physically active parents, according to new research. A study in Journal of Physical Activity and Health found two-thirds of children think their parents do almost no physical activity, meaning they are proving to be poor role models for their offspring. 

Researchers asked more than 4,000 schoolchildren to rate how active they thought their parents were. While one in five children said at least one of their parents was active, only one in ten said they had two active parents. The researchers highlighted that as parents act as role models for their children, particularly girls, parents need to be seen to be active to show their children how to live a healthy, active life.

To be active in the study, parents only had to be perceived by their children to do two or three sessions of physical activity per week including walking, cycling, running, going to play sport, going to a gym or an exercise class.

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