While younger children may be more likely to mimic the behaviors of mom and dad – especially where health and fitness habits are concerned – teens aren't likely to follow suit, a new study suggests.
Sell Your Test Strips for Cash
Sell Your Test Strips With Confidence. We Offer Top Prices, Free Shipping, Fast Payments.
www.assistdiabetics.com
We Buy Your Unused Test Strips
Do You Have Unused Diabetes Test Strips? Get Cash Fast For Your Test Strips. Earn Money Today.
www.assistdiabetics.com/sell/test/strips
Researchers at the University of Konstanz in Germany found that while teens who have parents at a healthy weight were more likely to be physically fit, having parents that are more active didn't correspond to higher levels of teen fitness.
The study included 1,328 teens who were surveyed about their health behaviors and their families' and tested on bicycles to determine fitness abilities.
Researchers found that having two parents with normal weight predicted better cardiorespiratory fitness in both boys and girls, but having parents who were physically active didn't change teens' fitness behaviors.
The findings may represent the fact that parents with healthy body weights are more likely to have better nutritional habits – and therefore promote a healthier home environment for teens. Yet study author Eliane Peterhans said that the disconnect may have more to do with the fact that teens are at an age when they don't see their parents as role models anymore.
Healthy behaviors like riding a bike to school, going to the gym and engaging in leisure time predicted cadiorespiratory fitness for teens, suggesting that having an active social life that involves physical fitness might have a stronger influence on teen fitness than behaviors modeled by parents.
While boys and girls were more apt to be physically active if they had a robust peer and social life, the association was weaker for girls. And although boys who spent less than two hours a day on "screen time" in front of the computer or television were more likely to be fit than boys who reported more screen time, using electronics didn't seem to have an effect on girls' fitness.
Since family health behaviors were also more strongly linked to teen boys' fitness than girls', a better understanding of how adolescent females are influenced to either become fit or stay sedentary is necessary, researchers said.
"We need more research in girls, especially," said Peterhans. "For example, maybe peer behavior is a more important influence on girls' cardiorespiratory fitness than boys."
Results of the study are published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
Source: Center for Advancing Health
Get a free 7-Day Diabetes Meal Plan from Constance Brown-Riggs who is a Registered Dietitian-Certified Diabetes Educator and who is also a national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.
Just enter in your email below to download your free Diabetes Meal Plan.