Association between parents’ physical activity and mode of commuting with their offsprings
Abstract Background. Some studies have reported a positive association between parents and their offspring’s physical activity (PA), but few have examined the difference in these associations concerning both genders. The objective of this study was to establish the association between moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and mode of commuting (MC) of the parents with their offspring’s MC, by gender and age group. Methods. This cross-sectional study included 686 parents (mothers: 52.8%) and their offsprings (33.8% girls). Each participant completed a questionnaire on PA and MC. Chi-square test, Odds Ratio for categorical variables and lineal regressions for continuous variables were used to examine the associations between the parents and their offspring. Results. An inverse association was found between fathers-children in the weekend MVPA in children and between mothers-adolescents in out-of-school and weekend MVPA in adolescents, specifically, an inverse association was found in MVPA between mothers-girls and 2) the different parents’ MC to work were positively associated with the MC to school in children and adolescents except for the association AC parents-adolescents and specifically, the AC was mainly associated between mothers and girls and boys. Conclusion. This study emphasizes the importance of involving parents in school-based interventions to create a positive ripple effect in PA-related behaviours.