What is more important—physical activity or perception of physical activity?

Article Outline

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It is well known that physical activity is an important component of a healthy lifestyle for children, adolescents, and adults. Unfortunately, the epidemic of childhood and adult obesity has demonstrated that we may have some difficulties with getting enough physical activity in the United States. One particularly vulnerable period for reduction of physical activity is the period of adolescence, which seems to be especially true for girls.

The concept of parents being important role models for children is important. In fact, it has been suggested that changing the behavior of parents might be the most effective way to change behavior in their children. There is, however, some concern that the influence of parents may diminish for adolescents. In this issue of The Journal, Madsen et al report on an analysis to determine whether parent physical activity behavior predicts the activity of adolescent girls. They found that the adolescent girls' perception of their parents' physical activity was a better predictor of the girls' physical activity than was the parental self-report of physical activity. Girls with more active parents were, on average, 50% more active than girls with sedentary parents. However, physical activity declined during adolescence for virtually all girls, especially in later adolescence.

These findings emphasize that what children observe their parents doing may be more important than what parents report they do, even for parents of adolescents. This is an important message for pediatricians to deliver to parents of children and adolescents.