UK Wedding News
24/03/2014
A new study has found that the more active a mum is, the more active her child will be.
However, experts from Cambridge and Southampton universities that carried out the research said that many mothers' exercise levels still fall short of recommended levels.
The findings have been published in the journal Pediatrics.
For the study, 554 four-year-olds and their mothers wore a heart-rate monitor and accelerometer for up to seven days. The device was worn continuously, even if the participants were sleeping or doing water-based activities, and it was concluded that parents have an important role to play in developing healthy exercise habits with their children.
When the data was studied, it was revealed that there was a direct association between physical activity in children and their mothers.
Kathryn Hesketh, a research associate at the Institute of Child Health at University College London who co-led the study, explained: "The more activity a mother did, the more active her child. Although it is not possible to tell from this study whether active children were making their mothers run around after them, it is likely that activity in one of the pair influences activity in the other."
She added that for every minute of moderate-to-vigorous activity a mother engaged in, her child was also more likely to engage in 10% more of the same level of activity. In other words, if a mum spent one hour being more active each day, her offspring could spend 10 minutes being more active each day, potentially having a "significant" impact over the course of a month or a year.
Factors which influenced a mother's activity levels included whether she worked or not and whether the child had any brothers or sisters.
Elsewhere, co-study author Dr Esther van Sluijs, from the Centre for Diet and Activity Research at the University of Cambridge added that the link between a mother and child's activity levels was stronger for mothers who left school at 16, compared to those who left at 18. It was also found that once women become mothers their activity levels fall, and quite often fail to return to previous levels. Other factors which influenced a mother's activity levels included whether she worked or not and whether the child had brothers or sisters.
Miss Hesketh continued: "There are many competing priorities for new parents and making time to be active may not always be top of the list. However, small increases in maternal activity levels may lead to benefits for mothers and children."
(JP)
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Active Mums Have More Active Children
A new study has found that the more active a mum is, the more active her child will be.
However, experts from Cambridge and Southampton universities that carried out the research said that many mothers' exercise levels still fall short of recommended levels.
The findings have been published in the journal Pediatrics.
For the study, 554 four-year-olds and their mothers wore a heart-rate monitor and accelerometer for up to seven days. The device was worn continuously, even if the participants were sleeping or doing water-based activities, and it was concluded that parents have an important role to play in developing healthy exercise habits with their children.
When the data was studied, it was revealed that there was a direct association between physical activity in children and their mothers.
Kathryn Hesketh, a research associate at the Institute of Child Health at University College London who co-led the study, explained: "The more activity a mother did, the more active her child. Although it is not possible to tell from this study whether active children were making their mothers run around after them, it is likely that activity in one of the pair influences activity in the other."
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She added that for every minute of moderate-to-vigorous activity a mother engaged in, her child was also more likely to engage in 10% more of the same level of activity. In other words, if a mum spent one hour being more active each day, her offspring could spend 10 minutes being more active each day, potentially having a "significant" impact over the course of a month or a year.
Factors which influenced a mother's activity levels included whether she worked or not and whether the child had any brothers or sisters.
Elsewhere, co-study author Dr Esther van Sluijs, from the Centre for Diet and Activity Research at the University of Cambridge added that the link between a mother and child's activity levels was stronger for mothers who left school at 16, compared to those who left at 18. It was also found that once women become mothers their activity levels fall, and quite often fail to return to previous levels. Other factors which influenced a mother's activity levels included whether she worked or not and whether the child had brothers or sisters.
Miss Hesketh continued: "There are many competing priorities for new parents and making time to be active may not always be top of the list. However, small increases in maternal activity levels may lead to benefits for mothers and children."
(JP)
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