Relationship of parental health-related behaviours and physical fitness in girls and boys.

AIM: Physical activity (PA) and physical fitness (PF) are known to be closely connected. Various environmental and biological constraints have been shown to influence children's PA with parents being among strong determinants of their children's PA behaviour. However, little is known about parental influence on PF in children. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the influence of parental health-related behaviours and attitudes on PF in boys and girls. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Baseline data of 1,875 primary school children (7.1 ± 0.6 years; 50 % male) were included in the analyses. Lateral jumping performance was used as a proxy for whole-body coordination and the 6-min run for cardiovascular fitness. Parental health-related behaviours, attitudes and sociodemographic variables were assessed via questionnaire. Regression analyses, adjusting for age and BMI, were performed separately for boys and girls. RESULTS: The final models of the regression analyses showed that children's age and BMI are significantly related to PF. Mothers' self-efficacy to encourage their children to be active is significantly associated with boys' coordination and cardiovascular fitness and girls' coordination. Mothers' PA affects PF in boys, not in girls. Maternal smoking has a significantly negative effect on both boys' and girls' cardiovascular fitness. CONCLUSION: This study shows that parental health-related behaviours and self-efficacy to encourage their children to be active affect children's PF. Influencing factors, however, differ in girls and boys, and mothers seem especially influential.

Why do mothers encourage their children to control their weight? A cross-sectional study of possible contributing factors.

BACKGROUND: Mothers encouraging their children to control their weight is problematic as it is associated with children's body dissatisfaction and weight concerns as well as further weight gain. The aim of this study was to identify factors in children and mothers associated with mothers encouraging their children to control their weight and possible gender differences therein. METHODS: Cross-sectional questionnaire data was available from 1658 mothers of primary school children (mean age 7.1 ±0.6 years, 50.4% boys) participating in the Baden-Württemberg Study. Children's body weight and height were measured in a standardised manner. Logistic regressions were computed separately for boys and girls, adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) from the final model are reported. RESULTS: 29% of children were encouraged by their mothers, girls (32.4%) significantly more often than boys (25.6%). Child BMI (girls OR 1.77, CI 1.57 to 1.99; boys OR 1.88, CI 1.66 to 2.13), and child migration background (girls OR 2.14, CI 1.45 to 3.16; boys OR 1.60, CI 1.07 to 2.37) were significantly associated with encouragement by mothers. For girls, maternal body dissatisfaction (OR 1.59, CI 1.10 to 2.30) and maternal perception of a low influence on health (OR 0.51, CI 0.29 to 0.89) were also significantly associated with maternal encouragement. For boys, this was true of mothers self-efficacy to influence their children's physical activity (OR 0.58, CI 0.40 to 0.85). CONCLUSION: Different factors are associated with mothers encouraging boys and girls to control their weight. Identifying correlates and underlying processes of maternal encouragement can inform preventive measures targeting weight and eating related problems in children.

Parents' willingness to pay for the prevention of childhood overweight and obesity.

OBJECTIVE: To determine parental willingness-to-pay (WTP) for childhood obesity prevention. METHODS: Cross-sectional data from the follow-up measurements (2011) of a health promotion programme in German primary schools. Data collection included anthropometric measurements of children and self-administered questionnaires for parents, including WTP assessment. Mann-Whitney U-Test was used for differences between groups, and regression analysis to identify factors associated with general WTP and amount of WTP. RESULTS: From 1 534 parents, 97.8% considered overweight/obesity to be serious public health problems. A general WTP to reduce the incidence of childhood overweight/obesity by half, was declared by 48.8%. Parents of overweight/obese children showed with 61.4%, significantly more frequently, their general WTP than the others with 47.2% (p = 0.001). Mean WTP was 23.04 (99% confidence interval (CI) [22.45; 23.75]) per month. Parents of centrally obese children showed significantly higher WTP than parents of the other children (p = 0.001). General WTP and the amount of WTP were associated with the central obesity of the child, migration status and household income. Additionally, general WTP was associated with maternal obesity. CONCLUSIONS: Nearly half of the parents were willing to invest in prevention of obesity. The general WTP significantly occurs more often and with higher amount in affected parents.