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An examination of multilevel factors that may explain gender differences in children's physical activity.
Published Web Location
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23132842/No data is associated with this publication.
Abstract
Background
Girls are less physically active than boys, yet no single study has examined the factors that may explain gender differences in children's physical activity (PA).Methods
This study was a cross-sectional analysis of data from 116 caregivers and their children aged 5-8 years who participated in the MOVE study. Caregivers reported various factors that may relate to children's PA (eg, encouragement for child PA and PA equipment at home). Child PA was measured by 7-day accelerometry. Linear regression tested for the variance in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) explained by gender and several variables. Gender and ethnicity interactions were examined.Results
Caregivers were mostly female (97%), mean age 38 ± 6 years, mean BMI 28 ± 6 (kg/m2). Child's mean age was 8.1 ± 0.7, 54% were female and 40% were overweight/obese. Girls were less physically active than boys (54.1 ± 19.7 vs. 65.2 ± 28.0 daily minutes of MVPA, respectively). Among girls, more days of PE/week was associated with greater MVPA. Among boys, greater parent support for PA, greater parent modeling for PA, and greater number of PA equipment in the home were associated with greater MVPA.Conclusions
This study supports that boys and girls have different correlates for MVPA, which may partly explain gender differences in PA.Many UC-authored scholarly publications are freely available on this site because of the UC's open access policies. Let us know how this access is important for you.