THE ROLE OF THE FAMILY FACTOR IN SHAPING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF RURAL SCHOOLCHILDREN: RESULTS OF THE PARENTAL SURVEY

Abstract

Introduction. The global decline in children’s physical activity levels is one of the pressing public health problems, exacerbated by socioeconomic and security-related factors. The family environment is considered a key determinant in shaping a child’s movement behavior and motivation for the physical activity. The purpose of the study. To investigate the role of the family factor in the formation of physical activity among schoolchildren living in rural areas and the methods used by parents to motivate their children. The materials and the methods. The study was conducted among parents of schoolchildren in grades 5–9 from schools in rural settlements of the Zakarpattia region through an online survey (Google Forms). Participation was voluntary and anonymous. Bibliographicsemantic, sociological, statistical, and graphical methods were applied. The total number of respondents was 867 (96% women, 4% men). The results and discussion. Almost half of the parents (47.9%) assessed their child’s physical activity as sufficient, 34.5% as partial; 15.5% of parents believed that their children need an increased level of activity, and 2.2% stated that their child is not physically active at all. Only 25.6% of respondents correctly indicated the recommended level of physical activity (“at least 60 minutes / day”), while 28.8% reported that there is no minimum standard. The main barriers to supporting children’s physical activity identified by parents were lack of time (35.4%), a busy work schedule (33.7%), lack of interest (31.9%), and health problems (27.7%). The majority of respondents (76.7%) consider the family to be primarily responsible for a child’s physical activity; however, 70.8% of parents do not engage in sports, and only 27% practice physical activity together with their children. The most common motivational methods are support and encouragement (72.5%) and discussions about the importance of physical activity for health (55.6%). The conclusions. The obtained results confirm the leading role of the family in shaping children’s physical activity, while simultaneously revealing a lack of parental awareness of current recommendations and insufficient regularity of joint activities. This substantiates the need for family-oriented educational and motivational interventions.