Investigation for the association of parental exercise preferences with children's fitness

In this study, the association of parental exercise preferences with children's fitness were investigated in 546 children of 1-6 grades and their parents in a local public- and a suburban private school. As a result, even though adjustments were made with other factors related to physical fitness, the odds ratio for children's low fitness was 6.4 in the group of parents having low exercise preferences, which was significantly higher than that of parents having high exercise preferences. The odds ratio of children's low fitness in the group of either parent having high exercise preference was almost equal to that in the group of both parents having high exercise preferences. On the other hand, no significant association was recognized between children's fitness and the actual exercise habits of each parent. In conclusion, it was considered that the parental exercise preferences might be one of the strong relevant factors of children's fitness.