ArticleBMJ open2018
Roles of mothers and fathers in supporting child physical activity: a cross-sectional mixed-methods study.
Article in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 74 citations in OpenAlex.
- Parental Influence on Child and Adolescent Physical Activity Level: A Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Parental and Peer Support are Associated with Physical Activity in Adolescents: Evidence from 74 Countries.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- Becoming a parent: A systematic review and meta-analysis of changes in BMI, diet, and physical activity.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2020Pooled it
- The Association Between Father Support and Daughter Physical Activity: Insights From a Study Involving U.S. Latina Pre-Teens.American journal of health promotion : AJHP · 2025Trial
- Father-Focused Childhood Obesity Prevention Interventions: A Scoping Review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025Article
- When gender matters: parental characteristics associated with children's compliance with 24-hour movement behavior guidelines - the Czech FAMIPASS study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The Good Start Matters mHealth Parenting Program: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Parental Attitudes to Risky Play and Children's Independent Mobility: Public Health Implications for Children in Ireland.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Maternal health literacy plays a greater role than paternal health literacy in adolescent physical activity in China: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- "It's what mothers do." A qualitative exploration of mothers' experiences of supporting their daughter to be physically active.PloS one · 2024Article
- Physical activity and TV viewing parenting practices for toddlers among South Asian and white families in the UK: born in Bradford 1000 study.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Examination of physical activity development in early childhood: protocol for a longitudinal cohort study of mother-toddler dyads.BMC pediatrics · 2023Article
- The role of the family in health promotion: a scoping review of models and mechanisms.Health promotion international · 2022Article
- Parental Support Is Associated with Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity among Chinese Adolescents through the Availability of Physical Activity Resources in the Home Environment and Autonomous Motivation.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Temporal stability of behavior, temporal cue-behavior associations, and physical activity habit strength among mothers with school-aged children.Psychology & health · 2022Article
- A Comprehensive Examination of the Nature, Frequency, and Context of Parental Weight Communication: Perspectives of Parents and Adolescents.Nutrients · 2022Article
- Physical Activity, Body Mass Index (BMI) and Abdominal Obesity of Pre-Adolescent Children in the Region of Thrace, NE Greece, in Relation to Socio-Demographic Characteristics.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Exploring a theory of change: Are increases in parental empowerment associated with healthier weight-related parenting practices?Social science & medicine (1982) · 2022Article
- Adolescents' proxy reports on obesity-related parenting practices: factorial validity and reliability across four behavioral domains.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Changes in Active Behaviours, Physical Activity, Sedentary Time, and Physical Fitness in Chilean Parents during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesExamine the extent that parent gender is associated with supporting children's physical activity.
designCross-sectional mixed-methods study.
setting47 primary schools located in Bristol (UK).
participants944 children aged 8-9 years and one of their parents provided quantitative data; 51 parents (20 fathers) were interviewed.
methodsChildren wore an accelerometer, and mean minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day, counts per minute (CPM) and achievement of national MVPA guidelines were derived. Parents reported who leads in supporting child activity during the week and weekend. Linear and logistic regression examined the association between gender of parent who supports child activity and child physical activity. For the semistructured telephone interviews, inductive and deductive content analyses were used to explore the role of gender in how parents support child activity.
resultsParents appeared to have a stronger role in supporting boys to be more active, than girls, and the strongest associations were when they reported that both parents had equal roles in supporting their child. For example, compared with the reference of female/mother support, equal contribution from both parents during the week was associated with boys doing 5.9 (95% CI 1.2 to 10.6) more minutes of MVPA per day and more CPM when both parents support on weekday and weekends (55.1 (14.3 to 95.9) and 52.8 (1.8 to 103.7), respectively). Associations in girls were weaker and sometimes in the opposite direction, but there was no strong statistical evidence for gender interactions. Themes emerged from the qualitative data, specifically; parents proactively supporting physical activity equally, mothers supporting during the week, families getting together at weekends, families doing activities separately due to preferences and parents using activities to bond one-to-one with children.
conclusionsMothers primarily support child activity during the week. Children, possibly more so boys, are more active if both parents share the supporting role.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.