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 Researchers found that the exact relationship
between mother and child physical activity depended on certain
lifestyle factors, however.
"It's a positive thing that maternal physical activity levels can
influence the activity level of their child," Kathryn Hesketh told
Reuters Health. "If more time is spent moving, then activity can
increase in both."
Hesketh is the study's lead author from the Institute of Child
Health at University College London. She worked on the study while
at the University of Cambridge.
She and her colleagues write in the journal Pediatrics that physical
activity is tied to healthy development among kids, but activity
levels are known to fall as people get older — especially after they
have children.
Previous studies examining a possible link between parent and child
activity levels have produced inconsistent results, they add.
For the new study, the researchers used data from 554 four-year-old
children and their mothers who were part of the UK Southampton
Women's Survey. Both kids and mothers wore devices that tracked
their movements for 14 to 15 waking hours over the course of about a
week.
Among children, about five of those hours were spent sitting or
standing still. About eight hours were spent on light physical
activity such as walking and about another hour was spent on
moderate-to-vigorous activity like running.
Among mothers, about an hour was spent standing or sitting still
while seven hours each were spent on light and moderate-to-vigorous
activity.
More active mothers tended to have more active children. The
strength of the association varied depending on the child's weight,
time spent at school, the mother's education and the time of day and
week, according to the researchers.
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Hesketh said understanding the factors that influence the
relationship between mother and child physical activity may help
researchers develop programs to increase activity overall.
And while mothers with young children already face a long list of
demands, Hesketh said it's important to know that even small
increases in activity can benefit not just the mothers themselves
but also their children.
She said that future research should focus on whether the
association exists even as children get older. There also aren't
many studies examining the role of fathers and physical activity
among children, she added. ___
Source: http://bit.ly/uFc4g2
Pediatrics, online March 24, 2014.
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