Parental views of children’s physical activity: a qualitative study with parents from multi-ethnic backgrounds living in England

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Gareth Stratton¹  Joanne Trigwell²  Paula Mary Watson³  Rebecca Catherine Murphy³  Nigel Timothy Cable⁴ 

[1] College of Engineering, Swansea University, Swansea, UK;Institute for Health and Wellbeing, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK;Physical Activity Exchange, Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK;Physical Activity Exchange, Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK;Aspire Academy, Doha, Qatar;

关键词: Children;    Ethnicity;    Parents;    Physical activity;    Qualitative;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-015-2351-8

 received in 2015-05-24, accepted in 2015-09-25,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundGuidelines recommend children and young people participate in at least 60 min of physical activity (PA) every day, however, findings from UK studies show PA levels of children vary across ethnic groups. Since parents play an instrumental role in determining children’s PA levels, this article aims to explore parental views of children’s PA in a multi-ethnic sample living in a large city in the North-West of England.MethodsSix single-ethnic focus groups were conducted with 36 parents of school-aged children (4 to 16 years) with a predominantly low socio-economic status (SES). Parents self-identified their ethnic background as Asian Bangladeshi (n = 5), Black African (n = 4), Black Somali (n = 7), Chinese (n = 6), White British (n = 8) and Yemeni (n = 6). Focus group topics included understanding of PA, awareness of PA guidelines, knowledge of benefits associated with PA and perceived influences on PA in childhood. Data were analysed thematically using QSR NVivo 9.0.ResultsParents from all ethnic groups valued PA and were aware of its benefits, however they lacked awareness of PA recommendations, perceived school to be the main provider for children’s PA, and reported challenges in motivating children to be active. At the environmental level, barriers to PA included safety concerns, adverse weather, lack of resources and lack of access. Additional barriers were noted for ethnic groups from cultures that prioritised educational attainment over PA (Asian Bangladeshi, Chinese, Yemeni) and with a Muslim faith (Asian Bangladeshi, Black Somali, Yemeni), who reported a lack of culturally appropriate PA opportunities for girls.ConclusionParents from multi-ethnic groups lacked awareness of children’s PA recommendations and faced barriers to promoting children’s PA out of school, with certain ethnic groups facing additional barriers due to cultural and religious factors. It is recommended children’s PA interventions address influences at all socio-ecological levels, and account for differences between ethnic groups.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Trigwell et al. 2015