Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Physical fitness for children--Iowa; Parental influences--Iowa; Parental influences; Physical fitness for children; Iowa; Academic theses;
Abstract
The general purpose of this study was to investigate the role of parental influence on children's physical activity (PA) behaviors. The specific purposes were to (1) determine the relationship between parental attitudes and their children's PA, (2) determine if parental exercise habits are related to their children's PA participation, (3) determine if parental knowledge of physical activity recommendations is related to their children's PA participation, ( 4) examine the nature of parenting practices on their children's PA participation, and (5) investigate the mediating effect of socio-economic status on the influence parents have on their children's PA participation. Questionnaires were obtained from 5th and 6th grade parents and children at two schools in Iowa. To assess the physical activity behaviors of the participants, children completed the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children, PAQ(C). Parents completed a questionnaire consisting of five sections: demographics, parental exercise behavior, parenting practices scale, physical activity knowledge scale, and exercise benefits and barriers scale. Data were collected on 57 fifth and sixth grade parents and students during fall semester 20 IO. The study sample included 28 girls and 29 boys. Students ranged in age from 9 to 12 years, with a mean age of 10.6 years. The parents ranged from 29-52 years, with a mean age of34.9 years. The results of the study showed that parental influences do not have a large impact on children's physical activity. No significance was found between parental physical activity behaviors or attitude/beliefs and children's physical activity behavior. The majority of the parenting practice items did illustrate a weak, positive correlation while parental knowledge results showed a weak negative correlation with children's physical activity behavior. Socioeconomic status did not impact the correlations between the parental variables and children's physical activity behavior. There are many factors that influence the physical activity behaviors of children outside of parents and future research should investigate other potential factors.
Year of Submission
2010
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
School of Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Services
First Advisor
Susan R. Roberts-Dobie
Second Advisor
Thomas M. Davis
Third Advisor
Kevin Finn
Date Original
2010
Object Description
1 PDF file (84 leaves)
Copyright
©2010 Molly Eshelman
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Eshelman, Molly, "Parental Influences on Children’s Physical Activity" (2010). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 1858.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/1858
Comments
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