Thaindian News

Washington, Jan 27 (ANI): A new study by researchers at Oregon State University has found no direct link between parents’ own level of physical activity and how much their child may exercise. In fact, the study has shown that parents’ perceptions of their children’s athleticism are what have a direct impact on the children’s activity.

Researchers Stewart Trost and Paul Loprinzi studied 268 children ages 2 to 5 in early childhood education centers in Queensland, Australia.

Of these children, 156 parents or caregivers were surveyed on their parental practices, behaviors related to physical activity and demographic information.

What they found is that parents’ level of physical activity is not directly associated with their children, but instead that the direct link was between parental support and a child’s level of physical activity.

“Active parents may be more likely to have active children because they encourage that behavior through the use of support systems and opportunities for physical activity, but there is no statistical evidence that a child is active simply because they see that their parents exercise,” Trost said.

His study found that parents who think their children have some sort of athletic ability were much more likely than other parents to provide instrumental and emotional support for young children to be physically active.

The study has been published in the journal Preventive Medicine. (ANI)