Many factors influence how much kids move. These can range from opportunities they have to be active — including unstructured play and organized sports — to the confidence kids have in their physical abilities, as well as social cues, like whether a child feels encouraged to run and jump and play.
Along those lines, the support children receive to be active can have a significant impact on whether they meet physical activity guidelines that recommend kids and adolescents engage in an hour or more of activity a day. That includes parental encouragement to be active as well as driving kids to sport practices and watching their games. But research finds that often the support kids receive from parents to be physically active is lopsided — with boys getting more support than girls. Experts say this may be one of the reasons girls tend be less physically active than boys.
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Kids’ and adults’ physical activity levels are determined by a mix of biological, environmental and behavioral factors, Rohan Telford, a research fellow at the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise and Health Research Institute at the University of Canberra in Australia, said in an email. Rather than being a question of nature versus nurture, he says that both seem to be contributing to the physical activity gap between boys and girls.
“From a biological perspective, as children begin puberty, differences in body composition become more pronounced, which may influence activity levels. Boys tend to accumulate muscle mass and develop higher cardiovascular fitness, which may make some physical activity settings such as physical education more appealing for boys and may [have an] impact on girls involvement during these times,” he says. “Physical activity has also been shown to decline with the onset of puberty.” And since girls typically go through puberty earlier , that may also contribute to the activity gap, he says.
On the other hand, he notes that physical activity differences between girls and boys emerge long before puberty. “A range of potentially modifiable factors have been identified that are associated with lower physical activity levels in girls,” he says, adding that societal expectations and social support play a big role shaping boys’ and girls’ physical activity behavior. Telford notes that previous research has shown girls can receive less social support, in terms of encouragement from parents, to engage in physical activity. “Our research indicated that girls received less support … in terms of parents providing transport to activities, watching their child be active and talking about the benefits of activity, than boys,” he says.
The study Telford led exploring reasons why girls are less physically active than boys was published last year in the open-access journal PLOS One. Of course, as researchers point out, there’s variation in how parents support physical activity for boys and girls — with some parents being more equitable across gender lines than others. But previous research has also found parents generally do more to support their sons in this regard than their daughters.
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“It is evident that parents with boys will be more likely to support their child’s physical activity, than parents with girls,” says Eun-Young Lee, a post-doctoral fellow in the Behavioural Epidemiology Lab at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, who’s researched parental support of girls’ physical activity.
In her research, she’s found that higher levels of support for kids’ physical activity are associated with higher levels of physical activity in girls and boys “regardless of biological maturation.” So during that awkward time when kids go through puberty, it’s especially important to be supportive of physical activity for all kids, experts say, and to go against the grain of declining parental support for girls’ physical activity that’s been found during this time. “Be aware that during development, when girls’ body shapes are changing they may need additional support,” since this is known to be a time when girls can drop out of sports and withdraw from physical activities, Telford says.
Experts say it’s important for parents to reflect on any ways they may be perpetuating gender stereotypes, and focus on building long-term physical activity habits in boys and girls. Encourage kids to be themselves and, starting from a young age, to play outside, Lee says. “Outdoor play will also help young children to explore and evaluate their physical capability, competence and boundaries,” she says. She recommends parents — those with young girls particularly — worry less about kids getting hurt and concern themselves more with making sure their kids have opportunities to play outside.
The “it takes a village” approach to raising kids applies to helping them get and stay active as well; experts say everything from support in a community to schools that incorporate physical activity into the curriculum can affect a child’s activity levels. At the same time, there’s much that parents can do personally to help get kids off on the right foot.
[See: Green Exercise: 10 Ways to Incorporate Nature Into Your Workout Routine.]
“It’s about guiding both boys and girls to have the confidence, skills and motivation to take responsibility for being [physically] active. Parents can achieve this through direct support such as providing transport and being active with their child and by encouraging and emotionally supporting their kids to be active,” Telford says. “Research also shows that parents who are more active themselves are able to model healthy physical activity behavior to their children. And let’s face it, parents need to focus on their own health and activity too.”
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Are You Encouraging Your Son to Be Active More Than Your Daughter? originally appeared on usnews.com
