The Role of Personal Enjoyment and Perceived Parental Values for Physical Activity in Rural Elementary School Children

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In recent years, childhood obesity has become an epidemic in the United States, especially in the rural southeast. Low levels of physical activity (PA), especially vigorous physical activity (VPA; > 6 METs) contribute to increases in childhood obesity. In order to increase physical activity levels in children, it is essential to examine intrapersonal (e.g., enjoyment of PA) and interpersonal factors (e.g., parental values) which are associated with physical activity. PURPOSE: To investigate the influence of enjoyment of PA and perceived parental values on moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA; > 3 METs) and VPA in 104 rural elementary school children (48 male, 56 female). METHODS: Participants completed a survey packet which included a seven day physical activity recall, and questions to assess enjoyment of PA and perceived parental values of 1) parental enjoyment of PA, and 2) importance of PA for the child. Anthropometric measurements were assessed to determine BMI. RESULTS: Four ordinary least squares regression equations were entered for analysis. In the first two equations, independent variables included youth's personal characteristics (age, gender, BMI), perceived parental enjoyment of physical activity, and youth's reported enjoyment of PA. This model explained 7.5% of youth's variance in average minutes of MVPA (adj. R2 = .075) and 10.6% (adj.R2 = .106) of the variance in youth's VPA. In both models, only the perceived parental value "males in my family enjoy physical activity" was a significant predictor (β = .255, .245 respectively). The third and fourth regression equations substituted perceived parental PA enjoyment with the youth's perception of the importance their parents place on the child's physical activity and sports aptitude. These models explained 3.1% of variance in MVPA minutes and 8.2% of variance in youth VPA. No variables were significant predictors of MVPA and only enjoyment of PA was significantly related to average minutes of VPA (β = .219). CONCLUSIONS: The father's enjoyment of PA demonstrated the strongest relationship with youth PA achievement for these rural youth. This factor demonstrated a stronger relationship with youth PA outcomes than the child's own reported PA enjoyment. The implication of these results and other social factors to be considered will be described.