Routledge Handbook of Physical Activity Policy and Practice by Joe Piggin Louise Mansfield Mike Weed

Author:Joe Piggin,Louise Mansfield,Mike Weed [Неизв.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)

Implications for physical activity policy and practice

Although the pertinence of engaging in regular physical activity during childhood to lifelong participation is unclear, parental modelling and family socio-economic status are noteworthy correlates. These trends are interesting but any explanation demands an understanding of what goes on within the context of specific families. Often replicated by their children, parental physical activity behaviours have symbolic power and are concomitant with intergenerational transmission and reproduction of parent’s physical activity values. Conjoined to this is the issue of developing the type of embodiment essential for lifelong physical activity. This would appear to be a consequence of the interplay between family resources and parental modelling as manifested in children’s embodied reproduction of both the social class position and physical activity biographies of their parents (Evans & Davies, 2010). Children who are not socialised into embodied performances characteristic of sustained engagement in physical activity tend to belong to families of lower socio-economic status. Therefore, the lifelong consequences of physical activity involvement during childhood extend beyond the issue of parents’ economic resources. It is as a consequence of the intergenerational reproduction of embodiment that ‘targeting’ children belonging to families of lower socio-economic status by offering opportunities to be active at a reduced cost or free of charge have not been effective (Evans & Davies, 2010). From a family socialisation perspective, these complex sets of relationships indicate that there is greater value for policy to focus upon parents to increase the likelihood of lifelong physical activity participation amongst their children, who are already engaged in some form of physical activity as a compulsory aspect of education.

Parents who are active with their children after being regularly active prior to parenthood are stuck between the health benefits of doing something rather than nothing but are not active in a manner they perceive to be worthwhile for themselves. They generally perceive participation in physical activity with their children as another parenting duty rather than a pursuit they will gain improved health or wellbeing from (Hamilton & White, 2010). Thinking outside of the increased public attention devoted to parents’ childrearing practices, the relevance of physical health to people’s lives is that it contributes to feelings of happiness and overall life satisfaction (Layard, 2011). Current UK Department of Health (2011) physical activity guidelines claim to adopt a life course perspective, although are more indicative of biological age-specific recommendations for maximal benefits in physical health. The family-oriented physical activity literature reviewed here illustrates that active parents are motivated more by the perceived benefits to individual and family wellbeing than potential improvements in physical health. In this sense, the addition of potential gains in quality of life for family members to physical activity guidelines would be worthwhile. For most, entry into parenthood is associated with a decline in physical activity levels, so to better our understanding of how active parenthood is negotiated a more detailed knowledge of the less common instances of becoming more active through parenthood is required. Ultimately, the majority of our knowledge about

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