School Performance,Lack of Facilities,and Safety Concerns: Barriers to Parents' Support of Their Children's Physical Activity

Abstract

Purpose.

To identify barriers to parents' support of their children's physical activity (PA) and to develop a survey to assess such barriers.

Methods.

Eighty-two parents (40 white; 36 African-American; 6 other) of elementary school-aged children participated in small-group interviews. Parents reported barriers to supporting their children's PA and suggested possible solutions. This information was used to develop the Barriers to Activity Support Scale (BASS), which was completed by 75 of the 82 parents along with a survey that assessed the parents' support for their children's PA.

Results.

Parents reported community-based, interpersonal, and intrapersonal barriers to supporting their children's PA. Top barriers included the importance of children's school performance, a lack of facilities, and concerns about safety. Parents who reported greater barriers reported lower support for their children's PA.

Discussion.

Results provide preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of the BASS and highlight the need to address barriers during the development of family-based PA programs.

Keywords

Physical Activity Family Barrier Social Support Children Ecological Systems Theory Manuscript format: applied research brief Research purpose: descriptive and instrument development Study design: nonexperimental and qualitative Outcome measure: behavioral Setting: family Health focus: fitness/physical activity Strategy: education and skill building/behavior change Target population age: families and youth Target population circumstances: Education/income level,race/ethnicity

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

National Association for Sport and Physical Education. Physical Activity for Children: A Statement of Guidelines for Children Ages 5–12 Years. Reston, Va: National Association for Sport and Physical Education; 2004.

Pate

Freedson

Sallis

. Compliance with physical activity guidelines: prevalence in a population of children and youth. Ann Epidemiol. 2002;12:303–308.

Strong

Malina

Blimkie

. Evidenced based physical activity for school-age youth. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2005;146:732–737.

Gustafson

Rhodes

. Parental correlates of physical activity in children and early adolescents. Sports Med. 2006;36:79–97.

Kahn

Ramsey

Brownson

. The effectiveness of interventions to increase physical activity: a systematic review. Am J Prev Med. 2002;22:73–107.

US Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention. Promoting Physical Activity: A Guide for Community Action. Champaign, Il: Human Kinetics; 1999.

Gordon-Larsen

Griffiths

Bentley

. Barriers to physical activity: qualitative data on caregiver-daughter perceptions and practices. Am J Prev Med. 2004;27:218–223.

Van de Ven

Delbecq

. The nominal group as a research instrument for exploratory health studies. Am J Public Health. 1972;62:337–342.

Davison

Cutting

Birch

. Parents' activity-related parenting practices predict girls' physical activity. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003;35:1589–1595.

10.

Stokols

. Establishing and maintaining healthy environments: toward a social ecology of health promotion. Am Psychol. 1992;47:6–22.