Parents' physical literacy is associated with children's physical activity through parental support

Physical activity provides multifaceted physical and mental health benefits for children; however, many children do not achieve the recommended levels. As children spend much of their time with their families, parental support is a key facilitator of physical activity engagement. Physical literacy is related to an individual's physical activity, which may, in turn, affect parental support and, consequently, children's activity levels. Nonetheless, knowledge of how parents' physical literacy relates to parental support and children's activities remains scarce. We aimed to examine the associations between parents' physical literacy, parental support, and children's physical activity. We hypothesized that parents' physical literacy is positively associated with their children's physical activity, directly and indirectly, through supportive behavior.

In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed data from 2,000 parents (mean age, 40.2 ± 5.4 years) of children aged 4-9 years from the follow-up survey of the Japan Sports Agency Project for Promoting Physical Activity Habits from Early Childhood. Parents' physical literacy was assessed using the Physical Literacy for Life self-assessment tool, parental support was assessed using five validated items, and children's physical activity was assessed using two parent-reported questions. Structural equation modeling with bootstrapping and bias-corrected confidence intervals (5,000 samples) was used to examine the direct and indirect associations among these variables.

Structural equation modeling demonstrated an acceptable model fit (comparative fit index = 0.980, goodness-of-fit index = 0.981, adjusted goodness-of-fit index = 0.968, root mean square error of approximation = 0.047). Parents' physical literacy was positively associated with both parental support (β = 0.28, p < 0.01) and children's physical activity (β = 0.09, p < 0.01). Parental support was also associated with children's physical activity (β = 0.60, p < 0.01).

Parents' physical literacy was positively associated with parental support and children's physical activity, suggesting a mediating role of parental support in this relationship. Enhancing parents' physical literacy may encourage supportive behaviors that contribute to children's physical activity through family-based approaches.