Parental Support for Physical Activity in African-American Girls

Abstract

African-American girls exhibit a steep decline in physical activity from childhood to adolescence. Few studies have examined the mothers’ influences on their African-American daughters’ physical activity. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the influences of child-reported parent support and encouragement for physical activity and mother-reported support for physical activity on objectively measured physical activity two years later in African-American girls. METHODS: Mothers’ support of physical activity and encouragement to be active were reported via survey by 92 5th grade African-American girls (mean age 10.52±0.52 years) from the Transitions and Activity Changes in Kids (TRACK) study. Mothers reported their own support of physical activity when their daughter was in 5th grade via survey. Total physical activity and MVPA were measured by a waist-mounted ActiGraph accelerometer (GT1M and GT3X, Pensacola, FL) that was worn for 6 consecutive days in 7th grade. A linear mixed model analysis with school as a random effect variable was used to examine the relationships between variables. RESULTS: The mean total physical activity and mean MVPA were 20.77±3.98 minutes per hour and 1.57±0.79 minutes per hour, respectively. A significant correlation was observed between child-reported mother’s support and total physical activity (p= 0.01). After adjustment for encouragement, mothers’ support reported by the child was positively associated with total physical activity two years later (p=0.04). Parent support reported by the mother was not associated with total physical activity. None of the independent variables were associated with MVPA two years later. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that African-American girls who perceive they are supported by their mother to be physically active may exhibit higher physical activity levels long term. Further research is needed to evaluate the longitudinal relationship between parental support of physical activity and physical activity in African-American girls. Additionally, an understanding of parental influence on MVPA in African-American girls is necessary to improve their physical activity intensity. Supported By: NIH Grant 3R01 HL091002-07S1