Involving Parents to Help Improve Children's Energy Balance-Related Behaviours Through a School-Based Intervention

The Role of Parental Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Family Time Together in Children's Weight Status: The BeE-School Project

The family context has been associated with children's weight status. This study aims to investigate the association of parents' adherence to the Mediterranean diet and family time with the weight status of children. The research is part of BeE-school, a cluster-randomized trial implemented in primary schools located in socially vulnerable contexts. A total of 735 children (380 boys and 355 girls) aged 6 to 10 participated in the study. Anthropometrics were assessed during school time, and weight status was categorized, while parents self-reported sociodemographic variables, adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MEDAS questionnaire), and family time. Children from families with higher education levels whose parents have a high adherence to the Mediterranean diet have lower odds of overweight/obesity (odds ratio (OR) 0.301, 95% CI 0.143-0.634, p = 0.002). Also, children from families with lower education levels who have more time together with their family have lower odds of overweight/obesity (OR 0.731, 95% CI 0.573-0.934, p = 0.012). The family environment, mainly family time together and adherence to the Mediterranean diet, exerts a significant influence on children's weight status. Professionals working in children's health should consider the family when fostering health-promoting behaviors.

Influence of parental involvement and parenting styles in children's active lifestyle: a systematic review

Background

Parents influence their children's lifestyles through modeling and support, which modifies how children approach physical activity. As such, this systematic review aims to know the influence of parental involvement in children's active lifestyles and the influence of parenting styles on children's practice and motivation towards physical activity.

Methodology

PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, ResearchGate, and Web of Science databases were searched from 15 July 2022 to 30 August 2022. The publication date of the included manuscripts was between November 2012 and January 2021. The methodological quality of the studies was analyzed using the Scale for Evaluating Scientific Articles in Social and Human Science. Furthermore, it was utilized the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020.

Results

The sample of the 10 included studies (in which different self-report measures were administered) was 1,957 children and their parents. In one study, parental involvement across limits decreased sedentary behaviours. In another, parent-child co-participation in physical activity improved participation in it. In one study, democratic parents predicted moderate-vigorous physical activity. In another, authoritarian styles were associated with sports practice. In another, permissive styles were associated with the worst physical activity practice. In one study, permissive parents were not significantly related to physical activity. In another, negligent parents were negatively associated with sports practice. In two studies, parenting styles were not associated with physical activity. In a study, the autonomy support of permissive parents and the structure of democratic parents is related to autonomous motivations. The coercive control of authoritarian parents and the lack of structure of negligent parents are related to non-self-determined motivations or amotivation.

Conclusions

Parental involvement contributes to children's participation in physical activity. There is no unanimity in the results obtained in parenting styles and the practice of physical activity. Democratic and permissive styles are associated with self-determined motivations, as opposed to negligent and authoritarian ones. The results obtained have been extracted from studies where different self-report measures are administered, so it would be advisable to continue researching this subject.

The Effects and Types of Parental Involvement in School-Based Sport and Health Programs Still Represent a Knowledge Gap: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Health-related behaviours and attitudes acquired in childhood significantly shape health behaviours in adulthood and play an important role in preventing children from becoming overweight. Interventions incorporating parental involvement can provide outstanding support in shaping a child's health-related behaviour. However, parental involvement has not been investigated from the perspective of efficacy except for obesity. Therefore, this systematic review investigates school-based physical activity intervention programmes incorporating parental involvement. We aim to explore the impact of these programmes and the parental involvement they provide on behaviours that influence child health, which are essential for preventing children and adults from becoming overweight and promoting health-conscious lifestyles.

METHODS

This systematic literature review follows PRISMA guidelines. The EBSCO Discovery Service Search Engine was used for searching for literature. Papers included met the following inclusion criteria: (1) reported original, empirical research or systematic review published in a peer-reviewed journal; (2) primary or secondary school age (6-18 years) as the target population; (3) examined school-based sport or health prevention and intervention programs; (4) only healthy children and youth in the indicated age group; (5) school-based prevention or intervention program; (6) examines parental involvement; (7) in the English language, and (8) in disciplines of education, psychology, social work, sociology, social sciences and humanities.

RESULTS

An extremely limited number of interventions of sufficient quality address the role of parental involvement (N = 17). The forms of parental involvement show a huge variety, ranging from leaflets, home packs, sports organisations "forced" by the pandemic, parent meetings, programmes, courses, and school programmes with diverse children over several months (cooking together, gardening, playing sports together, etc.). Therefore, it is difficult to measure their effectiveness and impact.

CONCLUSIONS

The impact of parental involvement on children's health behaviour, especially physical activity and nutrition, as two of the most important factors in preventing them from becoming overweight, are unclear, and other correlations, e.g., academic achievement, are scarce.