Do specific parenting practices and related parental self-efficacy associate with physical activity and screen time among primary schoolchildren? A cross-sectional study in Belgium

Associations of family socioeconomic indicators and physical activity of primary school-aged children: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Family socioeconomic indicators (education, occupation, and household income) are key determinants influencing children's physical activity (PA). This study aims to systematically review the current research about the association between family socioeconomic indicators and PA among primary school-aged children and to quantify the distribution of reported associations by childs' and parents' sex and according to analysis and assessment methods.

METHODS

A systematic literature research in multiple scientific databases (MEDLINE via PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, SPORTDiscus and ERIC) was performed for literature published between 1st January 2010 and 31st March 2022. Only studies reporting statistical associations between an SES indicator of at least one parent (education, occupation, income, or an SES index) and different types and intensities of PA in primary school-aged children (6 to 12 years) were included in the analysis. The distributions of the reported associations were evaluated across and differentiated by sub-group analysis of assessment methods (objectively measured vs. self-reported PA) and analysis methods (univariate vs. multivariate models).

RESULTS

Overall, 93 studies reported in 77 publications were included in this review. Most of the studies were conducted in Europe and used self-reports (questionnaires) to assess PA. Most studies used only a single SES indicator (commonly maternal education), and only two studies calculated an SES index. The majority of the studies focused on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), total physical activity (TPA), and organized physical activity (OPA). Results showed predominantly positive associations between SES indicators and OPA. In contrast, results regarding different intensities of daily PA (TPA, LPA, MPA, MVPA, VPA, LTPA) were heterogeneous, with overwhelmingly no associations.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the results expand the knowledge about the association between family socioeconomic indicators and children's PA and disprove the hypothesis of a clear positive association. However, large multicenter studies are lacking using a real SES index as a predictor and analyzing gender-specific multivariate models.

Associations between media parenting practices and early adolescent screen use

BACKGROUND

To assess the prevalence of various media parenting practices and identify their associations with early adolescent screen time and problematic social media, video game, and mobile phone use.

METHODS

Cross-sectional data from Year 3 of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (2019-2022) that included 10,048 adolescents (12-13 years, 48.3% female, 45.6% racial/ethnic minorities) in the US were analyzed using multiple linear regression analyses adjusting for potential confounders.

RESULTS

Parent screen use, family mealtime screen use, and bedroom screen use were associated with greater adolescent screen time and problematic social media, video game, and mobile phone use. Parental use of screens to control behavior (e.g., as a reward or punishment) was associated with higher screen time and greater problematic video game use. Parental monitoring of screens was associated with lower screen time and less problematic social media and mobile phone use. Parental limit setting of screens was associated with lower screen time and less problematic social media, video game, and mobile phone use.

DISCUSSION

Parent screen use, mealtime screen use, and bedroom screen use were associated with higher adolescent problematic screen use and could be limited in a family media use plan. Parental monitoring and limiting of screen time are associated with less problematic screen use.

IMPACT STATEMENT

Although the American Academy of Pediatrics provides guidance for screen use for children 5-18 years, there is a paucity of evidence-based guidance for media parenting practices, specifically for early adolescents. In a diverse sample of 10,048 early adolescents across the US, we found cross-sectional associations between parent, mealtime, and bedroom screen use and higher adolescent problematic screen use. Parental monitoring and limiting of adolescent screen time were cross-sectionally associated with less problematic screen use in our analytic sample and may be incorporated into a family media use plan.

Cardiovascular prevention in childhood: a consensus document of the Italian Society of Cardiology Working Group on Congenital Heart Disease and Cardiovascular Prevention in Paediatric Age

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) may be manifested from a very early age. Genetic and environmental (epigenetic) factors interact to affect development and give rise to an abnormal phenotypical expression of genetic information, although not eliciting changes in the nucleotide sequence of DNA. It has been scientifically proven that increased oxidative stress (OS) caused by disease (overweight, obesity, diabetes), nutritional imbalances, unhealthy lifestyles (smoking, alcohol, substance abuse) in the mother during pregnancy may induce placental dysfunction, intrauterine growth restriction, prematurity, low birth weight, postnatal adiposity rebound, metabolic alterations and consequent onset of traditional cardiovascular risk factors. OS represents the cornerstone in the onset of atherosclerosis and manifestation of CVD following an extended asymptomatic period. OS activates platelets and monocytes eliciting the release of pro-inflammatory, pro-atherogenic and pro-oxidising substances resulting in endothelial dysfunction, decrease in flow-mediated arterial dilatation and increase in carotid intima-media thickness. The prevention of CVD is defined as primordial (aimed at preventing risk factors development), primary (aimed at early identification and treatment of risk factors), secondary (aimed at reducing risk of future events in patients who have already manifested a cardiovascular event), and tertiary (aimed at limiting the complex outcome of disease). Atherosclerosis prevention should be implemented as early as possible. Appropriate screening should be carried out to identify children at high risk who are apparently healthy and implement measures including dietary and lifestyle changes, addition of nutritional supplements and, lastly, pharmacological treatment if risk profiles fail to normalise. Reinstating endothelial function during the reversible stage of atherosclerosis is crucial.

Parental psychological problems were associated with higher screen time and the use of mature-rated media in children

Aim

Parents’ psychological problems may affect children's screen time, but research has been scarce. We examined the association between parental psychological problems and children's screen media behaviours in a nationally representative sample.

Methods

The participants were from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, recruited by probability sampling from the USA population. Children reported their use of TV, videos, video games, social media and mature‐rated media. The parents (85% mothers) reported psychological problems using the Adult Self‐Report questionnaire.

Results

In 10,650 children (5112 girls, 5538 boys) aged 9.9 ± 0.6 years, the presence of parental psychological problems was associated with children spending more daily time on screen media and with meeting the recommendation of ≤2 daily hours less often than children whose parents did not have psychological problems. Parental psychological problems were associated with children's TV watching, video watching and gaming but not with using social media. Parental internalising problems were associated with children watching mature‐rated movies (odds ratio [OR] = 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.00, 1.30) and playing mature‐rated games (OR = 1.27, 95% CI = 1.11, 1.45).

Conclusion

Presence of parental psychological problems is associated with higher screen time and use of mature‐rated media in children. This cross‐sectional study was not able to examine causal associations.

Patterns of Screen Time Parenting Practices among Parent-Adolescent Dyads Who Participated in a Cross-Sectional Internet-Based Study

Background: Little is known about the simultaneous use of screen time (ST) parenting practices in children. Hence, study objectives were to determine patterns of ST parenting practices and associations with demographic, anthropometric, and sedentary behavior measures in parents and their adolescent children (12-17 years). Methods: Dyadic survey data from Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating, a cross-sectional, internet-based study, conducted in 2014 were analyzed using latent class analysis on six ST parenting practices-permissive, rules/limits, monitoring, modeling, accessibility, and negotiated rules. Self-report model covariates included adolescent age and parent and adolescent sex, body weight category, and sedentary behavior. Results: Based on 1200 parent-adolescent dyads, five latent classes were identified representing a continuum of practice use (high to low)-Complete Influencers (16%, reference class), Disagreeing Influencers (18%), Positive Influencers (24%), Negative Influencers (23%), and Indifferent Influencers (20%). Disagreeing, Indifferent, and Negative Influencers were 50%-81% and 45%-49% less likely to contain younger adolescent dyads and male adolescent dyads, respectively. Dyads with adolescent overweight/obesity had twice the odds of belonging to one of the other four classes. Odds of belonging to one of the other four classes were 3%-9% lower for every 1 minute/day increase in adolescent sedentary behavior. Conclusions: Parents utilize distinct patterns of ST practices, which are differentially associated with adolescent age, sex, weight, and sedentary behavior. Advocating for parental use of combinations of practices, like rules/limits and monitoring, to decrease their adolescents' ST may prove more beneficial than no practice use.

Parental Self-Efficacy-A Predictor of Children's Health Behaviors? Its Impact on Children's Physical Activity and Screen Media Use and Potential Interaction Effect Within a Health Promotion Program

Insufficient physical activity (PA) and increased screen media use (SMU) can have detrimental effects on children's health. Parental self-efficacy (PSE) can act as an important predictor for a healthy upbringing. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of PSE on children's PA and SMU. Additionally, a moderating effect of PSE on the intervention effect of the health promotion program “Join the Healthy Boat” was examined. Using a prospective randomized controlled trial, 558 kindergarten children (3.6 years [SD = 0.6]) were examined. Data was collected using parental self-report. A significant influence of PSE on children's PA (B = 0.33, p = 0.025) and children's SMU (B = 0.42, p = 0.006) was found. The moderating effect of PSE on the intervention effect was neither significantly related to children's PA (p = 0.360) nor to children's SMU (p = 0.531). This confirms the importance of PSE on children's health development. Despite the lack of a moderating effect, interventions should also promote healthy activity behaviors and self-efficacy for parents in order to engage children in a healthy lifestyle.

How parental socioeconomic status contribute to children's sports participation in China: A cross-sectional study

Socioeconomic status (SES) is an important factor contributing to health inequality. This study aimed to investigate factors that predict junior school students' sports participation, identify the mechanisms underlying transmission of social resources and assess the mediating effects of classmate support and parental involvement on the relationship between parental SES and children's sports participation. 4829 males and 4536 females (mean age = 13.56 years, standard deviation = 0.686 years) participated in the study. Multivariate regression was adopted to analyze the determinants of junior school students' sports participation and multiple mediation analyses were used to analyze the hypothesized model. The results indicated that parental SES is significantly and directly correlated with junior school students' sports participation. In addition, parental SES has a significant indirect effect on sports participation through classmate support and parental involvement. Furthermore, the mediation effect of classmate support on the association between parental SES and sports participation is stronger than that of parental involvement. To promote and facilitate the participation of junior school students', strategies should be developed by government and social workers to strengthen classmate support and parental involvement.

Development of a consensus statement on the role of the family in the physical activity, sedentary, and sleep behaviours of children and youth

BACKGROUND

Children and youth who meet the physical activity, sedentary, and sleep behaviour recommendations in the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines are more likely to have desirable physical and psychosocial health outcomes. Yet, few children and youth actually meet the recommendations. The family is a key source of influence that can affect lifestyle behaviours. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process used to develop the Consensus Statement on the Role of the Family in the Physical Activity, Sedentary, and Sleep Behaviours of Children and Youth (0-17 years) and present, explain, substantiate, and discuss the final Consensus Statement.

METHODS

The development of the Consensus Statement included the establishment of a multidisciplinary Expert Panel, completion of six reviews (three literature, two scoping, one systematic review of reviews), custom data analyses of Statistics Canada's Canadian Health Measures Survey, integration of related research identified by Expert Panel members, a stakeholder consultation, establishment of consensus, and the development of a media, public relations, communications and launch plan.

RESULTS

Evidence from the literature reviews provided substantial support for the importance of family on children's movement behaviours and highlighted the importance of inclusion of the entire family system as a source of influence and promotion of healthy child and youth movement behaviours. The Expert Panel incorporated the collective evidence from all reviews, the custom analyses, other related research identified, and stakeholder survey feedback, to develop a conceptual model and arrive at the Consensus Statement: Families can support children and youth in achieving healthy physical activity, sedentary and sleep behaviours by encouraging, facilitating, modelling, setting expectations and engaging in healthy movement behaviours with them. Other sources of influence are important (e.g., child care, school, health care, community, governments) and can support families in this pursuit.

CONCLUSION

Family is important for the support and promotion of healthy movement behaviours of children and youth. This Consensus Statement serves as a comprehensive, credible, and current synopsis of related evidence, recommendations, and resources for multiple stakeholders.

Parenting Advice School-Age Kids Offer to Parents to Promote Healthier Child Weight-Related Behaviors

OBJECTIVE

To explore parenting advice children would provide to help parents encourage positive health-related behaviors by children.

DESIGN

Focus group discussions were conducted, and children shared the advice they would provide parents to help them encourage healthy weight-related behaviors (ie, diet, physical activity, and sleep) for children.

SETTING

Focus groups (n = 65) were conducted in 3 states (Florida, New Jersey, and West Virginia).

PARTICIPANTS

School-age children (n = 194) between the ages of 6 and 11 years old.

PHENOMENON OF INTEREST

What parenting practices are recommended by children, and are they in line with best-practice guidelines?

ANALYSIS

Focus group data were analyzed to identify themes and trends.

RESULTS

Children's recommendations were congruent with authoritative parenting styles (ie, high levels of warmth and control). Most of the advice shared by children aligned with recommended parent practices (ie, responsive feeding, facilitation, environmental restructuring, parent modeling, and encouragement). However, not all of the children's advice aligned with best practices guidelines (ie, use of food rewards and deception).

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Future nutrition education programs may be strengthened by helping parents adopt best practices for promoting healthy child behaviors. Furthermore, teaching children about recommended child feeding parenting practices may help protect future generations by preparing children to care for younger siblings or raise their children using best parenting practices.

HomeSTEAD's physical activity and screen media practices and beliefs survey: Instrument development and integrated conceptual model

The home environment has a significant influence on children’s physical activity and obesity risk. Our understanding of this environment is limited by current measurement tools. The Home Self-administered Tool for Environmental assessment of Activity and Diet addresses this gap. This paper describes the development and psychometric testing of its family physical activity and screen media practices and beliefs survey. Methods: Survey development was guided by the Analysis Grid for Environments Linked to Obesity (ANGELO) framework and informed by a literature review, expert opinion, and cognitive interviews. Parents of children ages 3–12 years (n = 129) completed the HomeSTEAD survey three times over 12–18 days. Additionally, parents reported on child behaviors and trained staff measured parent and child height and weight. Five exploratory factor analyses were conducted after categorizing items into: control of physical activity, control of screen media, explicit modeling, implicit modeling, and perceived barriers and facilitators. Scales with 3 or more items underwent scale reduction. Psychometric testing evaluated internal consistency (Chronbach’s alphas), test-retest reliability (analysis of variance and intraclass correlations (ICC)), and construct validity (correlations with child BMI, physical activity, screen time). An integrated conceptual model of parent physical activity and screen media practices and beliefs was developed based on recent literature to aid in the identification and naming of constructs. Results: Final scales demonstrated good internal consistency (median Cronbach’s alpha = 0.81, IQR = 0.74–0.85), test-retest reliability (median ICC = 0.70, IQR = 0.66–0.78), and construct validity (with correlations between scale score and children’s behaviors generally in the expected direction). Comparison with the integrated conceptual model showed that most identified constructs were captured. Conclusions: The family physical activity and screen media practices survey advances the measurement of the home environment related to children’s physical activity, screen time, and weight. The integrated conceptual model provides a useful framework for researchers studying both physical activity and screen media parenting practices.

Effect of integrating a video intervention on parenting practices and related parental self-efficacy regarding health behaviours within the Feel4Diabetes-study in Belgian primary schoolchildren from vulnerable families: A cluster randomized trial

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to investigate the effect of integrating a video intervention "Movie Models" within the Feel4Diabetes-study on specific parenting practices and related parental self-efficacy regarding children's physical activity, screen-time and eating behaviour in vulnerable families (i.e. families living in low socioeconomic municipalities and at risk for developing type 2 diabetes). Additionally, there was examination of how the intervention was perceived by the parents.

METHODS

Within randomly selected low socioeconomic municipalities in Belgium, families were recruited through primary schools. Families at risk for developing type 2 diabetes were identified using the FINDRISC questionnaire (n = 457). Afterwards, the municipalities were randomly assigned to the intervention or control condition. At risk families assigned to the intervention group were invited to participate in six Feel4Diabetes counselling sessions in which families were encouraged to adopt a healthier lifestyle. The "Movie Models" videos were integrated within two sessions by using a face-to-face group discussion approach. Parenting-related factors were assessed before and after the integration of the videos, using a questionnaire. After integrating the videos, some extra evaluation questions were assessed. In total, 126 families were included in a per protocol evaluation and Repeated Measures ANOVAs were conducted to evaluate the potential intervention effects.

RESULTS

Some favourable intervention effects were found on parenting practices and related parental self-efficacy regarding children's eating behaviours, however almost no effects were found on parenting-related factors regarding children's physical activity and screen-time. In total, 60.0% of the participants indicated that they applied tips regarding parenting practices and 52.0% indicated that discussions with other participants regarding the videos were useful for them.

CONCLUSION

The integration of "Movie Models" within the Feel4Diabetes-study was effective in improving some parenting-related factors regarding children's health behaviours, however most parenting-related factors could not be improved. The implementation of "Movie Models" as a face-to-face group discussion approach was relatively well received and may be a promising way to improve parenting-related factors in vulnerable families.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02278809.

Using Oaxaca Decomposition to Study Socioeconomic Inequity of Physical Activity among Children Aged 10-12 Years: A Study in West of Iran

Background

Low physical activity (PA) is increasing public health problem. The present study aimed to determine socioeconomic inequality in PA among children aged 10-12 years old in Kurdistan, west of Iran in 2015.

Methods

The present cross-sectional study was conducted on 2506 children aged 10-12 in Sanandaj, Iran, in 2015. Data on the children's level of PA were collected using the Modifiable Activity Questionnaire. The concentration index was used to measure inequality and the Oaxaca decomposition to examine the different determinants of the inequality. The data were analyzed in Stata 13 and SPSS 20.

Results

Of the 2506 participants, 40.90% (38.97-42.82) had insufficient PA. Girls had a lower level of PA than boys (odds ratio [OR] = 0.34; 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 0.28-0.41) and it is directly related to maternal education (OR = 1.71; 95% CI: 1.18-2.47), the family's Socioeconomic status (SES) (OR = 2.18; 95% CI: 1.56-3.05), and the place of residence (OR = 1.68; 95% CI: 1.16-2.44). The concentration index for insufficient PA was -0.25 (95 CI: -0.30 to -0.21), revealing an insufficient PA in the group with a low SES. The prevalence of insufficient PA is 51.38% (95% CI: 48.45-54.31) in poor group and 28.40% (95% CI: 22.80-33.99) in the wealthier group. The Oaxaca decomposition showed maternal education and the place of residence was the most important determinants of inequality.

Conclusions

According to the findings, most of the children especially in the poor groups didn't have sufficient PA and socioeconomic factors could have the important role.

Family characteristics and children's knowledge of cardiovascular risk factors

BACKGROUND

Cardiovascular disease has the highest mortality rate than any other disease globally. Some major risk factors seem to be established in the early stages of life, suggesting preventive strategies as a major means to reduce cardiovascular mortality. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of socioeconomic status and family characteristics on children's knowledge and perceptions concerning cardiovascular disease risk factors.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1,728 children (46% male) aged 10-12 years, attending Greek primary schools in Athens; Heraklion (capital city of the island of Crete); Kalamata; Pyrgos; and Sparti (Peloponnese peninsula), Greece. Sampling was conducted on school premises, during the school years 2014-15 and 2015-16 (participation rate, 95-100%). Data were collected via self-administered, anonymous questionnaire. Children's knowledge of various issues related to cardiovascular risk, such as nutrition, physical activity and smoking was also examined. Data on family characteristics were collected through another questionnaire completed by parents.

RESULTS

Paternal education level and living with both parents instead of single-parent upbringing, were positively associated with children's knowledge of cardiovascular risk factors (b = 0.42; 95%CI: 0.01-0.83; P = 0.04; and b = 0.78; 95%CI: 0.013-1.43; P = 0.02 respectively). Moreover, children with more siblings seemed to have less sufficient knowledge compared with peers with fewer siblings (b per 1 sibling = -0.24; 95%CI: -0.47 to -0.014; P = 0.04).

CONCLUSIONS

The present findings enhance the link between the micro-environment and children's knowledge and perceptions concerning cardiovascular health, providing information to health-care professionals while counseling youths.

Parenting Practices as a Mediator in the Association Between Family Socio-Economic Status and Screen-Time in Primary Schoolchildren: A Feel4Diabetes Study

The aim of this study was to examine the mediating effects of specific parenting practices on the association between family socio-economic status (SES) and screen-time of 6- to 9-year-old children from families with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This cross-sectional study, focusing on families with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, used the Belgian baseline data of the Movie Models intervention, integrated within the European Feel4Diabetes intervention, and included 247 parents (57.6% lower SES family; 78.0% mothers) who completed a questionnaire. Mediating effects were tested using MacKinnon's product-of-coefficients test via multilevel linear regression analyses. Being consistent concerning rules about gaming (β = 0.127; standard error = 0.055; 95% CI = 0.020; 0.234) and avoiding negative role modeling concerning TV-time (β = -0.082; standard error = 0.040; 95% CI = -0.161; -0.003) significantly mediated the inverse association between family SES and children's screen-time. Parents from lower SES families were more consistent concerning rules about gaming and watched more TV nearby their child compared to parents from higher SES families, and these parenting practices were related to more screen-time. No other parenting practices were found to mediate this association. Thus, parents from lower SES families with a higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes might limit their own TV-time nearby their child to reduce their child's screen-time. Future research should examine other possible mediating factors to develop effective interventions targeting this important at-risk group.

Pokémon GO Within the Context of Family Health: Retrospective Study

BACKGROUND

Pokémon GO illuminated the potential for mobile phone gaming apps to engage users and promote health. However, much work is needed to fully understand the mechanisms through which digitally supported behavior change interventions operate, particularly for children and families.

OBJECTIVE

The aims of this study were (1) to explore the Pokémon GO user experience from a family perspective and (2) to investigate Pokémon GO within the context of family health.

METHODS

Between January and February 2017, congruent with one of the largest anticipated Pokémon GO updates Gen 2, participants were recruited from parks, word of mouth, and social media to complete a Web-based survey. Participants were surveyed about family characteristics, interest, and experiences playing Pokémon GO and healthy lifestyle beliefs. Using a revised Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire, a retrospective pre-post design assessed changes in parent physical activity (PA) before and after playing Pokémon GO.

RESULTS

Self-reported data from 160 parents and 31 children were included in the final analyses (representing 129 parents and 31 parent-child dyads). Gameplay most often occurred between sons aged 10 years or younger and mothers. "Spending time together" was the most cited reason for gameplay by both parents (122/160, 76.3%) and children (24/31, 77%), followed by "it helped me go outdoors" for parents (113/160, 70.1%) and "I am a Pokémon fan" by children (21/31, 68%). Interestingly, open-ended responses indicated that gameplay could trigger both positive and negative emotional parent response. The most cited reason for app disengagement was boredom; conversely, the most cited reason for app re-engagement was in-app events. For parents, there were significant increases in minutes spent in mild (mean 23.36 [SD 66.02]; t₉₇=3.50, P<.001) and moderate (mean 21.76 [SD 53.04]; t₁₃₀=4.70, P<.001) PA per week after playing Pokémon GO. However, child perceptions of parental influence on PA most significantly associated with parents who reported weekly strenuous PA both before (r_s=.514, P=.003) and after (r_s=.536, P=.003) Pokémon GO uptake.

CONCLUSIONS

Pokémon GO transcended traditional understanding of digital health and uniquely reached across generations to engage users. Findings from this study highlight that, for a period of time, Pokémon GO fostered social and physical well-being for children and families through a multifaceted approach.

Examining Influences of Parenting Styles and Practices on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviors in Latino Children in the United States: Integrative Review

BACKGROUND

Research indicates that parents influence their children's physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviors (SB) through their parenting styles and practices.

OBJECTIVE

The objectives of this paper were to evaluate existing research examining the associations between parenting styles, parenting practices, and PA and SB among Latino children aged between 2 and 12 years, highlight limitations of the existing research, and generate suggestions for future research.

METHODS

The method of this integrative review was informed by methods developed by Whittemore and Knafl, which allow for the inclusion of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods studies. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews Meta-Analyses guidelines, five electronic academic databases (PubMed, SPORTDiscus, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, and CINAHL) were searched for peer-reviewed, full-text papers published in English. Of the 641 unique citations identified, 67 full-text papers were retrieved, and 16 were selected for review.

RESULTS

The majority of the 16 reviewed studies were conducted with predominantly Mexican American or Mexican immigrant samples, and only 1 study examined the association between parenting styles and Latino children's PA and SB. Most (n=15) reviewed studies assessed the influence of parenting practices on children's PA and SB, and they provide good evidence that parenting practices such as offering verbal encouragement, prompting the child to be physically active, providing logistic support, engaging and being involved in PA, monitoring, and offering reinforcement and rewards encourage, facilitate, or increase children's PA. The examined studies also provide evidence that parenting practices, such as setting rules and implementing PA restrictions due to safety concerns, weather, and using psychological control discourage, hinder, or decrease children's PA.

CONCLUSIONS

Because this review found a very small number of studies examining the relationship between parenting styles and Latino children's PA and SB, additional research is needed. Given that the majority of reviewed studies were conducted with predominantly Mexican American or Mexican immigrant samples, additional research examining parenting styles, parenting practices, and PA and SB among multiethnic Latino groups is needed to design interventions tailored to the needs of this ethnically diverse population group.

Impact of self-efficacy and parenting practice on physical activity among school children

As insufficient engagement in physical activity (PA) is becoming a major health concern in Thailand, we aimed to investigate the impact of parenting practices and children's self-efficacy on a child's PA level and further in the subgroups, stratified by the child's sex and weight status. A total of 609 primary school children recruited by cluster sampling in two schools were asked to complete questionnaires, and general familial factors and parenting practice related to activities were completed by parents. Multivariate linear regressions were conducted to calculate the standardized beta-coefficients (β). Children's PA level was positively related to greater support seeking self-efficacy (β=0.281) for engaging in PA, and parenting practices, including less limit setting (β=-0.124) and more discipline (β=0.147) in the total sample. In the analyses of subgroups by a child's sex and weight status, parenting practice, such as less limit setting and discipline played a more important role in children's PA in normal weight children and girls as taking account of around 10% of variance of the child's PA, while only seeking support self-efficacy showed great impact in overweight children and boys. In conclusion, impacts of children's self-efficacy and parenting practices on children's PA were different by child's sex and weight status. This can suggest that future interventions to increase children's PA might need to consider different strategies to increase children's self-efficacy as well as parenting strategies when targeting different groups of children.

Parenting Practices and Children's Physical Activity: An Integrative Review

The purpose of this integrative review was to analyze the state of science concerning the influence of parenting practices on children's physical activity (PA) levels. A total of 38 studies met the inclusion criteria after full-text review. The body of research is limited in experimental designs with only three studies measuring the influence of the intervention on parenting practices. Seven of the 30 quantitative studies (23.3%) found significant associations between parental role modeling of PA and children's PA levels. Seven of the eight (87.5%) qualitative studies identified parental role modeling of PA as important in promoting children's PA. Sixteen of the 30 (53.3%) quantitative studies found that parental support of PA was significantly associated with children's PA. Five of the eight (62.5%) qualitative studies identified logistic support as supporting PA in children. The science could be expanded by the development of randomized controlled trials aimed at this area.

Parents' Social Status and Children's Daily Physical Activity: The Role of Familial Socialization and Support

Physical activity is a health relevant factor, particularly in affluent societies where overweight and obesity are increasingly prevalent, even among children. Understanding the development of physical activity patterns in childhood is thus an important issue for health promotion. Following socialization theory, this study describes and explains differences in objectively measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in a socially and ethnically mixed sample of 6- to 11-year-old children in Germany. MVPA levels were objectively measured with accelerometers over the course of six consecutive days (Wednesday to Monday). Parents' attitudes and practices as well as the family's socio-economic status (SES) were assessed from the parents via questionnaires. Results indicate that MVPA levels of children vary with gender, but not with age and ethnicity. Moreover, parental SES, parental support for the child's sports activities, parents' own sport activities and the parents' belief in sports' capacities to foster personality development, character building and social integration significantly predict the MVPA level of children. It is concluded that interventions to promote MVPA among children need to take family interactions and lifestyles into account and should address families in socio-economically underprivileged areas.

The effect of an online video intervention 'Movie Models' on specific parenting practices and parental self-efficacy related to children's physical activity, screen-time and healthy diet: a quasi experimental study

Background

In children, being sufficiently physically active, having low levels of screen-time and having a healthy diet are largely influenced by parenting practices. Children of parents applying positive parenting practices are at lower risk for overweight and obesity. Therefore, we investigated the effect of a health promoting online video intervention for parents (‘Movie Models’) on children’s physical activity (PA), screen-time and healthy diet, and on specific parenting practices and parental self-efficacy related to these parenting practices. The online videos are delivered to parents of primary schoolchildren, and were based on real-life scenarios.

Methods

A two-armed, quasi experimental design was used. Parents of primary schoolchildren were recruited between November and December 2013 by spreading an appeal in social media, and by contacting primary schools. Participating parents were predominantly of high socio-economic status (SES) (83.1%), and only 6.8% of children were overweight/obese. Intervention group participants were invited to watch online videos for 4 weeks. Specific parenting practices, parental self-efficacy, PA, screen-time and healthy diet of the child were assessed at baseline (T0), at one (T1) and at four (T2) months post baseline. Repeated Measures (Multivariate) ANOVAs were used to examine intervention effects. The potential moderating effect of age and gender of the child and parental SES was also examined.

Results

Between T0 and T2, no significant intervention effects were found on children’s PA, screen-time or healthy diet. Most significant intervention effects were found for more complex parenting practices (e.g., an increase in motivating the child to eat fruit). Subgroup analyses showed that the intervention had more effect on the actual parenting practices related to PA, screen-time and healthy diet in parents of older children (10–12 years old), whereas intervention effects on parental self-efficacy related to those behaviors were stronger in parents of younger children (6–9 years old).

Conclusions

‘Movie Models’ was effective in increasing some important parenting practices and parental self-efficacy related to PA, screen-time and healthy diet in children. Therefore, the current study is an important first step in promoting effective parenting-related factors, and possibly increasing children’s healthy diet and PA, and decreasing screen-time.

Trial registration

NCT02278809 in ClinicalTrials.gov on October 28, 2014 (retrospectively registered).

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4264-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Evaluation of screen time activities and their relationship with physical activity, overweight and socioeconomic status in children 10-12 years of age in Sanandaj, Iran: A cross-sectional study in 2015

Background: Screen time (ST), including watching television and playing electronic games are the leading cause of a growing obesity epidemic. This study aimed to evaluate ST and its association with physical activity, overweight and socioeconomic status (SES) in children 10 to 12 years of age in Sanandaj. Methods: This study was designed as a cross-sectional study, which was conducted in Sanandaj in 2015. ST and physical activity data were collected using the Modifiable Activity Questionnaire (MAQ). Overweight indices are defined based on BMI age- and gender-specific percentiles, as proposed by WHO criteria. Considering household assets data, SES was calculated using principal component analysis (PCA). The relationship between ST and different determinants was assessed using logistic regression analysis. Results: Based on the results obtained in our study, 47.28% (95% CI: 45.33-49.24) of the participants spent more than two hours a day on television and video watching and electronic games playing. People who spend greater time on ST activities, independent of their physical activities, are more susceptible to overweight and obesity (p=0.002). People in higher socioeconomic groups spent more time on watching TV and video and playing electronic games (p=0.001). There was a direct relationship between the residential area and ST (P=0.052). ST in male was found to be greater (p=0.033). In addition, ST was also lower in school-aged children whose mothers had a greater education (p=0.56). Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, it is recommended to increase the education level and knowledge of mothers and design interventions consistent with children gender and residential location so that to reduce ST and its associated outcomes in children.