The Importance of Parents' Income and Education Level in Relation to Their Preschool Children's Activity Level at Leisure.

Oda Malmo,Karin Kippe,Pål Lagestad

doi:10.3390/children8090733

Abstract

Previous research indicate that socioeconomic status positively corresponds with adults’ and adolescents’ physical activity levels. This study investigated the relationship between parents’ education and income, and preschool children’s physical activity level. A total of 244 Norwegian preschool children aged four to six and their parents were enrolled in the study. The children wore an Actigraph GT1M accelerometer for seven consecutive days to measure their physical activity level. Parents completed a questionnaire that provided information about their education level and income level. To examine the relationship between the parents’ education and income and their children’s physical activity level at leisure, the Kruskal-Wallis H test was conducted. The results revealed that neither mothers’ nor fathers’ education level or income, were associated with their children’s minutes in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) at leisure. The preschool curriculum of Norway may be one explanation why socioeconomic status was not linked to physical activity in this study. Another possibility is that this study was limited to full-time students with two parents. More research is needed to determine whether parent income or education is linked to physical activity among more diverse or older children in Norway.

Highlights

Parents completed a questionnaire that provided information about their education level and income level
Studies investigating the association of parental education level and children’s total physical activity refers to various findings [18,22,23]
The results show that there were no significant differences between boys and girls moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on weekdays and weekends

Summary

Introduction

Parents completed a questionnaire that provided information about their education level and income level. The preschool curriculum of Norway may be one explanation why socioeconomic status was not linked to physical activity in this study. More research is needed to determine whether parent income or education is linked to physical activity among more diverse or older children in Norway. Each year from the age of 5 to 18 [15] Such findings have become a cause of great concern, taking into consideration that not being sufficient physical active, have been identified as a leading risk factor for global mortality [16], and that inactivity among children and youth has been linked with lower physical activity levels in later life [17]. This study investigates the relationship between parents’ income and education level, and their children’s physical activity. Studies investigating the association of parental education level and children’s total physical activity refers to various findings [18,22,23]. Lu et al [19] and O’Donoghue [26] did not find an association

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