Do you know how active your child is?

A child was deemed inactive if he or she recorded less than an hour a day of moderate and vigorous physical activity. Although the majority of children studied were getting a sufficient level of physical activity,a sizeable minority of children were not. Overall,39 per cent of girls and 18 per cent of boys studied were getting less than an hour of physical activity each day.

But if you asked the parents of the inactive children to describe their child’s activity level,the vast majority—80 per cent-described their children as fairly or very physically active,according to the findings published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Interestingly,the children themselves had more awareness about their lack of physical activity. Overall,40 per cent of children overestimated their physical activity compared to their peers.

But it wasn’t the parents of overweight children who were most likely to guess wrong about physical activity levels. The parents who were most out of touch about their child’s physical fitness were more likely to have children who were slim. Parents of girls were also more likely to overestimate physical activity. The researchers noted that parents should be educated about the importance of physical activity for children even if the child is not overweight.
“Parents of children with a lower fat mass index appear to assume that their children are adequately active,” the study authors reported. “Increasing awareness regarding health benefits of physical activity beyond weight control might help reverse misperceptions of physical activity levels and encourage behavior change.”
—NYT