Active Mums Have Active Children, Researchers Say

Rebecca Lewis March 25, 2014

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New research from Cambridge and Southampton universities suggest that policies to improve children’s health should be aimed at mothers. That’s after finding out that the more active a mother is, the more physically active her child will be.

The study, published in the journal Paediatrics, also reported that the physical activities of most mums fell beyond the recommended levels.

Active mums have active children

For the study, 554 mothers and their four-year-olds wore a lightweight combined heart-rate monitor and accelerometer on their chests, for up to seven days. Participants wore it continuously, even whilst they sleep or when they are doing water activities.

Findings showed a direct, positive association between physical activity in children and their mothers. For every minute of moderate-to-vigorous activity a mother engaged in, her child was more likely to engage in 10 per cent more of the same level of activity.

"The more activity a mother did, the more active her child. Although it is not possible to tell from this study whether active children were making their mothers run around after them, it is likely that activity in one of the pair influences activity in the other." said Kathryn Hesketh, one of the researchers and now a research associate at the Institute of Child Health at University College London.

Whilst the differences may seem trivial, Hesketh said over the course of the month or year, they could be significant.

Among the factors identified in the study which affected a mother’s physical activity levels were whether she’s working or not and whether the child has other siblings.

The researchers found that the link between a mother and child’s activity levels was stronger for mothers who left school at 16, compared to those who left at 18.

Moreover, they also noticed that once women became mothers, their activity levels fell and often failed to return to previous levels. Such deficiency in activity levels could then influence their children.

"There are many competing priorities for new parents and making time to be active may not always be top of the list. However, small increases in maternal activity levels may lead to benefits for mothers and children." Hesketh said.

She notes that simply walking and moving more each day could lead to great benefits.

Meanwhile, children, even toddlers should be involved in active play. "Active play is an important way to develop coordination and motor function skills in the pre-school early years and there are lots of activities like parent and toddler swims, buggy fit and baby gym which provide opportunities for mums to socialise, be active and support their child’s development." said Dr Ann Hoskins, director of children, young people and families at Public Health England.