Effect of parental factors on junior high students′ physical activity in their leisure time outside school

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of parental support for the moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) of their children and to promote physical activity for children and adolescents.

MethodsA total of 622 students were selected by stratified clustering sampling methods.Physical activity and parental support factors were assessed by self-report questionnaire survey.Logistic regression was used to analyze determinants of physical inactivity.

ResultsNearly 58.7% of the parents purchased sports equipment for their children and 57.6% of the parents accompanied their children to do exercise.The rate of parental explicit modeling was 22.8%.The students who received parental logistic support and explicit modeling did longer MVPA on weekends.The students with parental logistic support were prone to be in activity (OR=1.51, 95%CI:1.01-2.27).

ConclusionFamily-based interventions from parental logistic support and explicit modeling could promote middle-to-high-intensity activities for junior high school students.