Inactive Parents: What’s Going On Here?

If you read the 2008 article when it was released in 2008, and have been waiting for ‘more research’ for the last 12 years rather than taking steps to become an active parent, then this is your big day!

Following up on the recommendation made in the 2008 article conclusion, 92 research teams did do something about the scant research on activity in parenthood. They published further articles, these all citing the 2008 review. (Of note, 20 related articles on this topic were published in 2020!)

One of the articles that delved further into this topic investigated “Are parents of young children practicing healthy nutrition and physical activity behaviors?”. Their conclusion was as follows:

“Our findings suggest that pediatricians and health care providers may want to consider discussing dietary intake and physical activity with new parents to identify ways to engage in healthful behaviors given the daily demands of parenthood, both to improve parents’ own health and to help them model healthful behavior for their children.”

Focussing on the physical activity behaviours aspect of the study, the authors noted that “Both mothers and fathers had lower amounts of physical activity compared with nonparents”. This identified that it is not just one parent or partner who is susceptible to the health risks of inactivity. It is not just one gender or caregiver who is becoming inactive due to parenting roles.

The majority of parents I know (including myself!) have made or recalled a comment about the difficulties, as a parent, of fitting in a desired physical health-oriented activity. It is usually with a tone of remorse or disappointment or frustration.

The recognition, desire and expression of wanting change was undeniable in these parents. As you just read – their partner may have been experiencing the same quandary in the very same parenting situation. What was missing was subsequent behaviours and action. There was no translation into action.

The researchers had acted – research was performed, papers were published, and clinicians were informed. Why were parents still struggling to become active?

The reality is that a big part of this problem is that parent’s get stuck – paralysed between the demands of parenting roles, and formulating and navigating increasing their activity.

We know parents have heard the ‘active parent’ message and can even recite it, but many can’t implement it without direct support.

The ReRunMe program is the take action step that follows on from any discussions had with pediatricians or health care providers. Incidental discussions and advice – even from health authorities – has minimal impact unless it is paired with education, strategising, problem solving and well-informed support for the individuals needing to take action.

ReRunMe enables further impact, offering parents support through webinars, workshops, online learning, practical materials, and active parent coaching.

Reference:

Berge, J. M., Larson, N., Bauer, K. W., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2011). Are parents of young children practicing healthy nutrition and physical activity behaviors?. Pediatrics, 127(5), 881–887. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2010-3218

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3081185/pdf/zpe881.pdf

(Interested in how you score on the measure of activity used in this study? Visit it here. Note that this measure does NOT determine health or able-bodiedness, it only screens for low thresholds of activity.)