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Parents' Inadequate Estimate of Their Children's Objectively Physical Activity Level

Karin Kippe1, Adilson Marques2, João Martins2,3

  • 1Department of Teacher Education and Art, Nord University, 7600 Levanger, Norway.

Children (Basel, Switzerland)
|March 25, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Parents often misjudge their preschool children's physical activity (PA) levels, frequently overestimating them. This inaccurate perception of children's leisure-time PA needs addressing to promote healthier activity habits.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Public Health
  • Behavioral Science

Background:

  • Preschool children's physical activity (PA) is crucial for development.
  • Accurate assessment of children's PA is vital for health interventions.
  • Parental perception can influence children's lifestyle behaviors.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine parents' estimation of their preschool children's leisure-time physical activity (PA).
  • To investigate the correlation between parents' participation in leisure-time PA with their children and the children's objectively measured PA levels.

Main Methods:

  • Objective measurement of PA in 244 Norwegian preschool children (aged 4-6) using accelerometers (Actigraph GT1M).
  • Parental questionnaires assessing estimation of children's PA and reported participation in PA with their children.
  • Correlation analyses and scatter plots to determine associations.

Main Results:

  • No significant association found between parents' estimation of children's leisure-time PA and objectively measured PA.
  • Only 5% of parents accurately estimated their children's PA levels; most overestimated by threefold.
  • No significant correlation between children's PA levels and parents' reported participation in PA with them.

Conclusions:

  • Parental estimation of preschool children's leisure-time PA is highly inaccurate.
  • The discrepancy between perceived and actual PA levels is significant and problematic.
  • Addressing parental misperceptions is essential to improve children's insufficient PA levels and meet health recommendations.

Keywords:
accelerometerchildrenleisureparents’ estimationphysical activity

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