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Relationship between Czech Parent and Child Pedometer-assessed Weekday and Weekend Physical Activity and Screen Time
Erik Sigmund1, Dagmar Sigmundová1, Petr Baďura1
1Institute of Active Lifestyle, Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
Insights
Parental activity, including step count (SC) and reduced screen time (ST), positively influences children's physical activity, especially on weekends. Family-based interventions focusing on weekend behavior are recommended.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health and Nutrition
- Family Lifestyle and Behavior Studies
- Public Health Interventions
Background:
- Understanding parental behavior's impact on children's physical activity is crucial for family lifestyle insights.
- Effective family-based interventions require knowledge of parent-child activity dynamics.
- Parental step count (SC) and screen time (ST) are key behavioral factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the relationship between parents' SC and ST and their children's SC.
- To analyze these relationships separately for weekdays and weekends.
- To inform the development of targeted family-based physical activity interventions.
Main Methods:
- Random recruitment of 388 parents (35-45 years) and 485 children (9-12 years) from Czech primary schools.
- Seven-day recording of SC and ST duration (≥ 10 h/day) during spring and autumn 2013.
- General linear regression used to estimate associations between parental behavior and children's SC.
Main Results:
- Increased parental SC was associated with higher children's SC on both weekdays and weekends.
- Mothers' weekend SC increase of 1,000 steps correlated with significant SC gains in daughters and sons.
- Reduced maternal ST by 30 minutes on weekend days was linked to substantial increases in children's SC.
Conclusions:
- A quantifiable link exists between parent-child SC and maternal ST, impacting children's weekend activity.
- Weekend behavior modification shows promise for increasing children's physical activity.
- Weekends are identified as opportune times for implementing family-centered physical activity interventions.
Aim:
Uncovering the influences of parents' behaviour on their children's physical activity provides an insight into the lifestyle of families and development of effective family-based interventions. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between parents' behaviour (step count (SC) and screen time (ST)) and children's SC on weekdays and at weekends.
Methods:
The participants (388 parents aged 35-45 and their 485 children aged 9-12) were randomly recruited from 21 Czech government funded primary schools. The participants recorded SC and ST duration for seven consecutive days (≥ 10 h/day) during April-May and September-October 2013. The associations between parents' behaviour (SC and ST) and children's SC were estimated using general linear regression separately for weekdays and weekends. Each 1,000 SC increase in mothers' (fathers') SC/weekday was associated with an extra 261 SC/day in their daughters and 413 (244) SC/day in their sons.
Results:
Each 1,000 SC increase in mothers' (fathers') SC/weekend day was associated with an extra 523 (386) SC/day in their daughters and 508 (435) SC/day in their sons. A reduction in mothers' ST by 30 minutes per weekend day was associated with an extra 494 SC/day in their daughters and 467 SC/day in their sons.
Conclusions:
This study reveals a quantifiable relationship between parent-child SC/day and mothers' ST and children's SC at weekends. Weekend days are more suitable for the implementation of family-based interventions.
