Purpose: Despite the known benefits of physical activity (PA) to physical and mental health, many people fail to achieve recommended PA levels. Parents are less active than non-parent contemporaries, therefore constituting a large potential intervention population. Interventions should be based upon in-depth understanding of the target behaviour and its determinants. This scoping review (based on Arksey and O’Malley’s guidelines (2005)) aimed to provide an overview of the current evidence base for parental PA.

Methods: Four databases (Medline, Embase, PsychInfo, Scopus) were systematically searched to identify peer-reviewed articles focusing on parental PA from 2005 onwards, including interventional, observational or qualitative study designs. Title and abstract screening was followed by duplicate full-text screening. Data extracted for all articles, completed by one author and checked by another, included study design, proportion of fathers, and ages of children. PA assessment method and factors examined based on the Socio-Ecological Model for quantitative studies, and questions addressed in qualitative studies were also included. Narrative methods, tabulations and graphs were used to summarise results.

Results: Of 14,913 unique records retrieved, 213 articles were included, some reporting on multiple study designs. 173 articles were quantitative (81 cross-sectional, 26 longitudinal, 76 interventional) and 58 qualitative. Most articles related to North American studies (62%), 53% included mothers only, and 30% and 29% pertained to parents of 0-5s and 0-12s respectively. The majority of quantitative articles only investigated self-reported PA (69%). Individual determinants or correlates were assessed in 90% of observational articles, whilst interpersonal and environmental factors were examined in 27% and 25% of articles respectively. Qualitative articles tended to obtain information from focus groups or group interviews (47%) and from individual interviews (45%).  Most qualitative articles explored PA barriers and facilitators (57%).

Conclusions: A range of quantitative and qualitative research has been conducted about parental PA. This review provides scope for conducting systematic reviews of related articles, such as those focused on the PA of parents of specific groups of children. It also identifies gaps and lesser-studied areas in the literature to be filled, for example around paternal PA, to gain a full understanding of parental PA to inform interventions.

Purpose: Becoming a parent may cohere with drastic changes in physical activity behavior for both women and men. A clear understanding of determinants of changes in physical activity during the transition to parenthood is needed to facilitate the development of tailored family-based interventions countering unfavorable changes in physical activity behavior during this critical life period. 

Methods: Six focus group discussions targeting determinants of changes in physical activity behavior from birth up to one year postpartum were conducted, involving a total of 32 participants (50% women). A semi-structured question guide was used to facilitate the discussions. Main and sub-categories of determinants were derived from the data using an inductive thematic approach.

Results: A framework comprising determinants of changes in physical activity in first-time parents was developed. Four main levels of determinants were identified, namely 1) the individual level, including psychological (e.g., ‘self-regulation’), situational (e.g., ‘other priorities’) and biological (e.g., ‘recovery after pregnancy/delivery’); 2) the interpersonal level (e.g., ‘influence of the baby’); 3) the environmental level, (e.g., ‘attribute prices’); and 4) the policy level (e.g., ‘maternity leave’). Determinants acting as barriers (e.g., ‘barriers to self-care’) or facilitators (e.g., ‘weight control’) were identified. Several interplays of determinants at different (sub)levels were observed. For example, practical constraints during the postpartum period, such as the difficulty to take the baby with you while sporting were described (at the individual – psychological level), while, at the same time, first-time parents experienced barriers to ask for help or leave their child with others (interpersonal level). Finally, some determinants were mentioned by women (e.g., ‘physical activity knowledge’) or men (e.g., ‘role model’) only, whereas others were described by both sexes (e.g., ‘planning’).

Conclusions: The developed framework sets the foundation for the development of future family-based interventions and may be used by healthcare providers to support and guide women and men towards a physically active parenthood. With this, interactions between (sub)levels should be taken into account. Parents should be sensitized, educated and supported to find a balance between self- and baby-care, to improve self-regulation skills, and to cope with interpersonal and situational constraints and parenthood perceptions.

Purpose: Physical activity (PA) parenting practices and role modelling are assumed to influence children’s PA. However, parents may also change their own PA behaviour and parenting in response to their perceptions of their child’s PA. This study examined the bidirectional relationships between parents’ perceptions of their own and child’s PA and PA parenting practices between children’s transition from kindergarten to primary school.

Methods: Questionnaire of the parent’s own (weekly exercise frequency (T1-T2); amount of days per week achieving recommended PA level; total of weekly PA hours (T2)) and child’s PA (time spent outdoors on weekdays and on weekend days) and PA parenting practices (parent’s and his/her partner’s logistic and material support, encouragement for PA and coparticipation in PA with the child) was completed by 666 parents (83.5-87.0% female) of the geographically representative Skilled Kids (T1) and Active Family (T2) studies in Finland. Means of the PA and PA parenting estimates were used in the analyses. Children attended kindergarten at T1 (mean age 5.55±1.08 years, minimum 3, maximum 8 years) and primary school at T2 (mean age 8.76±1.07 years, minimum 6.33, maximum 11.44 years). Hierarchical linear regression models were used to examine associations between the parent’s and child’s PA and PA parenting practices. All the models were adjusted for the child’s age and sex, and for the parent’s sex and educational level at T2.

Results: PA parenting practices at T1 predicted significantly (p<.001, 8.8%) child’s PA at T2, whereas parent’s PA at T1 was not a significant independent predictor of child’s PA at T2 (p=.169, 0.3%). Child’s PA at T1 was a significant independent predictor of PA parenting practices (p<.001, 7.1%) and parent’s PA (p<.001, 4.2%) at T2.

Conclusions: The results show that parents and children mutually influence each other’s PA related behaviours. In detail, there may be a reinforcing interaction between child’s PA and PA related parenting practices, but only child’s PA may affect parent’s PA but not vice versa. The bidirectional association between children and parents should be considered when developing tools for enhancing children’s and/or parents’ PA.