Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Aug 11:9:720830.
doi: 10.3389/fped.2021.720830. eCollection 2021.

Effects of Family Intervention on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Children Aged 2.5-12 Years: A Meta-Analysis

Ting Huang  1 , Guanggao Zhao  1 , Haoyuan Tan  2 , Hua Wu  3 , Jinmei Fu  4 , Shunli Sun  4 , Wendi Lv  1 , Zihao He  1 , Qiming Hu  1 , Minghui Quan  5
Affiliations

Effects of Family Intervention on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Children Aged 2.5-12 Years: A Meta-Analysis

Ting Huang et al. Front Pediatr. .

Abstract

Introduction: To use a quantitative approach to examine the effects of family interventions on physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) in children aged 2. 5-12 years. Methods: PubMed, OVID, Web of Science, and others were searched from their inception to May 2020. Intervention studies that examined the effects of family interventions on PA among children aged 2.5-12 years were included in this meta-analysis. Lastly, subgroup analyses were conducted to examine the potential modifying effects of family intervention's characteristics and study quality. Results: Eleven articles met the inclusion criteria for this review. Studies investigated a range of PA outcomes, including moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), total PA (TPA), daily steps, and SB levels. Meta-analysis showed that family intervention had a significant effect on PA [standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.10; 95% CI = 0.01-0.19], especially for daily steps [weight means difference (WMD) = 1,006; 95% CI = 209-1,803], but not for SB (WMD = -0.38; 95% CI = -7.21-6.46). Subgroup analyses indicated the improvements in PA occurred when children were 6-12 years old, intervention focused on PA only, intervention duration ≤ 10 weeks, and "low risk of bias" study performed. Conclusions: Family intervention may be a promising way to promote children's PA levels, especially for daily steps. Trial Registration: Meta-analysis protocol was registered on PROSPERO: CRD42020193667.

Keywords: children; family intervention; meta-analytic review; parents; physical activity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Article selection flow chart for the meta-analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Risk of bias graph each risk of bias item presented as percentages.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Risk of bias of included studies. (Green = low risk of bias; yellow = unclear risk of bias; red = high risk of bias).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest plot of family intervention on PA in children aged 2.5–12 years. (Yoong-MVPA; Yoong2-TPA).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Forest plot of family intervention on SB in children aged 2.5–12 years.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lv Y, Cai L, Gui Z. Effects of physical activity and sedentary behavior on cardiometabolic risk factors and cognitive function in children: protocol for a cohort study. BMJ Open. (2019) 9:e030322. 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030322 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Robinson LE, Stodden DF, Barnett LM. Motor competence and its effect on positive developmental trajectories of health. Sports Med. (2015) 45:1273–84. 10.1007/s40279-015-0351-6 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zeng N, Ayyub M, Sun H. Effects of physical activity on motor skills and cognitive development in early childhood: a systematic review. Biomed Res Int. (2017) 2017:2760716. 10.1155/2017/2760716 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nikander R, Sievänen H, Heinonen A. Targeted exercise against osteoporosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis for optimizing bone strength throughout life. BMC Med. (2010) 8:47. 10.1186/1741-7015-8-47 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Janz KF, Burns TL, Levy SM. Iowa bone development study. Tracking of activity and sedentary behaviors in childhood: the iowa bone development study. Am J Prev Med. (2005) 29:171–8. 10.1016/j.amepre.2005.06.001 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types