Abstract
Independent mobility refers to the freedom of children to play or travel without adult supervision. Parents play an important role in influencing their children's physical activity (PA). However, how parental granting mobility license may influence children's after-school PA has seldom been investigated.
PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between parental granting mobility license and objectively measured after-school PA among children in Hong Kong.
METHODS: One hundred twenty-seven children aged 8-12 years were recruited from 3 primary schools. Their parents responded to an 11-item scale to measure parental granting mobility license in four domains: travel to/from school, travel to sport-related destinations, travel to other destinations, and active play. Children wore an ActiGraph accelerometer for 8 consecutive days to assess PA accumulated in after-school period during school days. Univariate and stepwise multiple regression analyses were performed to examine the associations between parental granting mobility license (in both overall score and the four domains) and after-school PA.
RESULTS: Ninety-five children (9.1 ± 0.7 years, 53.7% boys) provided valid ActiGraph data for at least 3 days and their parents completed the questionnaire. On average, the after-school period lasted for 292.3 ± 100.7 minutes, of which 31.3 % was accumulated in light-intensity PA (LPA) and 7.3 % in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). After adjusting for gender, age and body mass index, the overall score of parental granting mobility license was positively associated with after-school MVPA (B = 0.211, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.033 to 0.389). Two domains of the parental license, i.e., travel to sport-related destinations (B = 1.112, 95% CI: 0.322 to 1.901) and active play (B = 1.633, 95% CI: 0.473 to 2.792), showed significant associations with after-school MVPA. However, only active play remained significant in the stepwise multiple regression models. Neither the overall score nor the 4 domains of parental granting mobility license was related with after-school LPA.
CONCLUSIONS: Higher level of parental granting mobility license, especially the freedom of children to play without adult’s supervision, was associated with more after-school MVPA in children.
PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between parental granting mobility license and objectively measured after-school PA among children in Hong Kong.
METHODS: One hundred twenty-seven children aged 8-12 years were recruited from 3 primary schools. Their parents responded to an 11-item scale to measure parental granting mobility license in four domains: travel to/from school, travel to sport-related destinations, travel to other destinations, and active play. Children wore an ActiGraph accelerometer for 8 consecutive days to assess PA accumulated in after-school period during school days. Univariate and stepwise multiple regression analyses were performed to examine the associations between parental granting mobility license (in both overall score and the four domains) and after-school PA.
RESULTS: Ninety-five children (9.1 ± 0.7 years, 53.7% boys) provided valid ActiGraph data for at least 3 days and their parents completed the questionnaire. On average, the after-school period lasted for 292.3 ± 100.7 minutes, of which 31.3 % was accumulated in light-intensity PA (LPA) and 7.3 % in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). After adjusting for gender, age and body mass index, the overall score of parental granting mobility license was positively associated with after-school MVPA (B = 0.211, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.033 to 0.389). Two domains of the parental license, i.e., travel to sport-related destinations (B = 1.112, 95% CI: 0.322 to 1.901) and active play (B = 1.633, 95% CI: 0.473 to 2.792), showed significant associations with after-school MVPA. However, only active play remained significant in the stepwise multiple regression models. Neither the overall score nor the 4 domains of parental granting mobility license was related with after-school LPA.
CONCLUSIONS: Higher level of parental granting mobility license, especially the freedom of children to play without adult’s supervision, was associated with more after-school MVPA in children.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 57-57 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Journal | Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue number | 7S |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 27 May 2020 |