Physical activity: rate, related factors, and association between parents and children

Objective: To analyze the association between sports practice of adolescents and their parents. Methods: Cross-sectional study enrolling 1,111 ado- lescents of both genders, with ages ranging from ten to 17 years old and their respective parents. Among parents and adolescents, sportive practice of moderate and/or high intensity was assessed by a questionnaire. Economic condi- tion, gender, and age were used as potential confounders. Binary logistic regression indicated the magnitude of the associations detected by the chi-square test. Results: For both genders, simultaneous paternal and maternal engagement was associated with higher sports practice (male: OR2.3; 95%CI1.0-5.3; female: OR2.7; 95%CI1.3-5.1). However, maternal engagement was associ- ated with higher sports practice only in the female gender (OR2.4; 95%CI1.4-3.8). Conclusions: Adolescents' sports practice is associated with parents' engagement and the parental gender affects this event.