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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1385703

Parental education, Family Health Climate and accelerometer based measured physical activity and sedentary behavior of primary school aged children

Provisionally accepted
Alexandra Ziegeldorf Alexandra Ziegeldorf *Nina Hottenrott Nina Hottenrott Johanna Moritz Johanna Moritz Petra Wagner Petra Wagner Hagen Wulff Hagen Wulff
  • Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Sociodemographic factors such as parental education level (ED) influence physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SED) of primary school aged children. In this context, family factors, such as the physical activity related family health climate (FHCPA), are relevant. However, the effect of FHCPA on the interaction between ED and children's activity behavior has not been investigated yet. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the mediating effect of the FHCPA on the relation between parental ED and children's device-based measured PA and SED. A total of 94 children and their parents participated in the study. Questionnaires were used to assess parental ED and FHCPA. Children's moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and SED were measured using accelerometers. Bivariate correlations were conducted to investigate associations between parental ED and MVPA/SED/FHCPA. Mediation analyses were used to investigate the role of FHCPA in the association between maternal and paternal ED and children's MVPA/SED. Results indicate a small correlation between maternal ED and FHCPA for the total sample (ρ=.318, p<.001) and a medium correlation for girls only (ρ=.570, p<.001). Mediation analyses showed no significant mediation effect. However, there was a significant direct association considering FHCPA in the relation between higher maternal ED and SED in girls compared to lower ED. Future research should examine more complex models to further develop and sharpen to facilitate the derivation of more effective recommendations for health prevention programs, particularly for mothers and girls.

    Keywords: Parental education, Family health climate, Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, sedentary behavior, Children

    Received: 13 Feb 2024; Accepted: 14 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ziegeldorf, Hottenrott, Moritz, Wagner and Wulff. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Alexandra Ziegeldorf, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany

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