Understanding Parents’ Experiences in Facilitating Physically Active Leisure for their Children who are Overweight or Obese

(Completed 2009)

Charlene Shannon - University of New Brunswick, SRG 2006

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2009 -Knowledge Transfer Paper

Project Summary
Parents are key influencers of their children’s leisure behaviours. They identify and create opportunities for their child’s continued participation in leisure activities including sport. There are a number of factors that affect a parent’s ability to support his/her child’s participation in leisure activities. Given increasing concerns about childhood obesity and the importance of involving overweight/obese children in physical activity, three objectives guided this study:

• To identify the leisure behaviour patterns of overweight and obese children aged 5 to 16 and their parents;
• To explore parents’ experiences with facilitating and supporting their child’s participation in physically active leisure;
• To determine whether and in what ways participation in parent leisure education sessions influences parents’ ability to facilitate or support their child’s engagement in physically active leisure.

The study demonstrated that parents’ personal limitations, lack of knowledge about available recreation and sport opportunities, and lack of awareness about their children’s leisure interests make it difficult to support their child’s ongoing participation in sport and physical activity. Children’s negative experiences with sport and active leisure pursuits can also be a strong influence. However, leisure education can help parents by providing them with opportunities to: acquire knowledge about available recreation and sport resources; discover their children’s interests; and develop strategies for overcoming various challenges in creating and supporting sport and active leisure opportunities.

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SCRI 2009 Presentation Slides

2008

This study focuses on exploring: 1) the challenges parents of overweight children experience in increasing or maintaining their child’s level of physically active leisure and, 2) the role that leisure education (process by which ) can play in helping them to overcome these challenges. Study participants are parents of children ages 5 to 12 who are overweight and have been referred to the University of New Brunswick’s Paediatric Lifestyle Management Program by their paediatrician or family physician. The program is 10 weeks in length and provides 3 group and 7 individual sessions on health, nutrition, physical activity, and leisure. Semi-structured interviews are conducted with parents prior to beginning the program and the week following program completion. These interviews explore individual, family, community, and societal/public policy factors that affect, either positively or negatively, parents’ ability to facilitate their child’s physically active leisure.. Data also includes case notes from six one-on-one leisure education sessions with parents which focus on identifying the family leisure issues, child’s leisure interest, barriers to active leisure participation, and individual and community resources that could facilitate active leisure.

The 10-week program has run twice since funding was received. Initial interviews were completed with 20 participants, and 11 of those participants completed all six leisure education sessions and the final interview. Themes were developed from the analysis of initial interview transcripts and begin to address the first purpose of this study. Parents’ own physical limitations, attitudes about leisure and sport, limited understanding of their child’s interests and willingness to purse expressed interests, and lack of knowledge about leisure/sport opportunities as constraining their children’s participation in active leisure. Bullying in recreation and sport setting is a common challenge that the children face and which parents struggle to manage in order to facilitate participation in active leisure.

2007
Lack of physical activity among children is considered to be one of the modifiable factors
contributing to growing issue of childhood obesity and intervention strategies have focused on
increasing children’s physically active leisure (Barlow & Dietz, 1998). In exploring various
factors that influence children’s physical activity, parents have been identified as a strong
influence (Trost et al., 2003). Because parents guide and direct their children’s leisure
behaviours (Hutchinson, Baldwin, & Caldwell, 2003), a parent’s ability to facilitate or support
their children’s involvement in physical activity during free time is critical. Unfortunately, little
research exists related to understanding parents’ experiences with facilitating children’s physical activity. The focus of this study is on exploring the challenges parents of overweight children experience in increasing or maintaining their child’s level of physically active leisure and the role that leisure education can play in helping them to overcome these challenges.

The University of New Brunswick operates an interdisciplinary, family-based, Learning, Eating,
and Activity Program (LEAP) that provides individualized support and education sessions to
families with a child aged 5 to 12 who is considered overweight. Leisure education is a unique
component of LEAP in which parents have the opportunity to become familiar with the role of
leisure in their child’s life, the benefits of active leisure, identify leisure interests, discuss barriers to participation in active leisure, and explore individual and community leisure resources.

Parents from this program are recruited and participate in interviews and leisure education
sessions. Guided by ecological perspective (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) interviews explore
individual, family, community, and societal/public policy factors that affect, either positively or
negatively, parents’ ability to facilitate their child’s physically active leisure. Leisure constraints
theory (Crawford, Jackson, & Godbey, 1991) also provides a framework for exploring how
constraints children face may interact with parents’ experiences in facilitating physically active
leisure.

SCRI 2007 Presentation Slides

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