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Moving Together: Understanding Parent Perceptions Related to Physical Activity and Motor Skill Development in Preschool Children

Background: Establishing physical activity (PA) and motor behaviors in early childhood are important for developing healthy activity behaviors. Parents play a central role in shaping young children’s PA and fundamental motor skills (FMS). This qualitative study explored parents’ attributes, values,...

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Autores principales: Agard, Becky, Zeng, Nan, McCloskey, Morgan L., Johnson, Susan L., Bellows, Laura L.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8431392/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34501785
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18179196
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author Agard, Becky
Zeng, Nan
McCloskey, Morgan L.
Johnson, Susan L.
Bellows, Laura L.
author_facet Agard, Becky
Zeng, Nan
McCloskey, Morgan L.
Johnson, Susan L.
Bellows, Laura L.
author_sort Agard, Becky
collection PubMed
description Background: Establishing physical activity (PA) and motor behaviors in early childhood are important for developing healthy activity behaviors. Parents play a central role in shaping young children’s PA and fundamental motor skills (FMS). This qualitative study explored parents’ attributes, values, perceptions, and practices related to PA and FMS. Methods: Thirty-one parents (26 mothers) of preschool-aged children participated in semi-structured in-person interviews. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, coded and analyzed using an iterative approach. Results: Four themes related to PA and FMS emerged: (1) parent attributes; (2) parent–child interactions; (3) parent perception of children’s attributes; and (4) parenting practices. Although most parents enjoyed playing with their child, some did not realize the importance of engaging in PA with their child and even believed that FMS are naturally developed. Parents indicated that children’s temperament may influence their preference for practicing motor skills. Conclusions: Social support and positive parenting practices, including encouragement, monitoring, logistical support, co-participation, and facilitation, are important for the development of PA and FMS. The findings add emphasis to the importance of parents’ role in the development of young children’s PA and FMS, and they inform future strategies aiming to promote young children’s activity behaviors.
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spelling pubmed-84313922021-09-11 Moving Together: Understanding Parent Perceptions Related to Physical Activity and Motor Skill Development in Preschool Children Agard, Becky Zeng, Nan McCloskey, Morgan L. Johnson, Susan L. Bellows, Laura L. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Background: Establishing physical activity (PA) and motor behaviors in early childhood are important for developing healthy activity behaviors. Parents play a central role in shaping young children’s PA and fundamental motor skills (FMS). This qualitative study explored parents’ attributes, values, perceptions, and practices related to PA and FMS. Methods: Thirty-one parents (26 mothers) of preschool-aged children participated in semi-structured in-person interviews. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, coded and analyzed using an iterative approach. Results: Four themes related to PA and FMS emerged: (1) parent attributes; (2) parent–child interactions; (3) parent perception of children’s attributes; and (4) parenting practices. Although most parents enjoyed playing with their child, some did not realize the importance of engaging in PA with their child and even believed that FMS are naturally developed. Parents indicated that children’s temperament may influence their preference for practicing motor skills. Conclusions: Social support and positive parenting practices, including encouragement, monitoring, logistical support, co-participation, and facilitation, are important for the development of PA and FMS. The findings add emphasis to the importance of parents’ role in the development of young children’s PA and FMS, and they inform future strategies aiming to promote young children’s activity behaviors. MDPI 2021-08-31 /pmc/articles/PMC8431392/ /pubmed/34501785 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18179196 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Agard, Becky
Zeng, Nan
McCloskey, Morgan L.
Johnson, Susan L.
Bellows, Laura L.
Moving Together: Understanding Parent Perceptions Related to Physical Activity and Motor Skill Development in Preschool Children
title Moving Together: Understanding Parent Perceptions Related to Physical Activity and Motor Skill Development in Preschool Children
title_full Moving Together: Understanding Parent Perceptions Related to Physical Activity and Motor Skill Development in Preschool Children
title_fullStr Moving Together: Understanding Parent Perceptions Related to Physical Activity and Motor Skill Development in Preschool Children
title_full_unstemmed Moving Together: Understanding Parent Perceptions Related to Physical Activity and Motor Skill Development in Preschool Children
title_short Moving Together: Understanding Parent Perceptions Related to Physical Activity and Motor Skill Development in Preschool Children
title_sort moving together: understanding parent perceptions related to physical activity and motor skill development in preschool children
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8431392/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34501785
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18179196
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