Associations of parental physical activity trajectories with offspring's physical activity patterns from childhood to middle adulthood: The Young Finns Study

We investigated the association of parental physical activity (PA) trajectories with offsprings youth and adult PA. Self-reported PA data were extracted from the Young Finns Study with three follow-ups for parents between 1980 and 1986 and nine follow-ups for their offspring in youth between 1980 and 2011 (aged 9-39 years, n = 2402) and in adulthood in 2018. Accelerometer-derived PA was quantified in 2018-2020 (aged 43-58 years, n = 1134). Data were analyzed using mixture models and conducted in 2022. We identified three trajectories for fathers and mothers (high-stable activity, 20.2%/16.6%; moderate-stable activity, 50.5%/49.6%; and low-stable activity, 29.4%/33.7%) and four for youth male and female offspring (persistently active, 13.4%/5.1%; increasingly active, 32.1%/43.1%; decreasingly active, 14.4%/12.6%; and persistently low-active, 40.1%/39.1%). Compared to low-stable active parents, high-stable active fathers had a higher probability of having their sons and daughters classified as persistently active, increasingly active, and decreasingly active in youth (B-range = 0.50-1.79, all p < 0.008), while high- and moderate-stable active mothers had significantly increased likelihood of having their daughters classified as persistently active and decreasingly active in youth (B-range = 0.63-1.16, all p < 0.009). Fathers' and mothers' high-stable activity was associated with higher self-reported PA of adult offspring than parental low-stable activity. Persistently active and increasingly active offspring in youth accumulated more adult total PA, moderate-to-vigorous PA, step counts, and self-reported PA than persistently low-active ones (all p < 0.036). Parental persistent PA, particularly paternal persistent PA, predicts offsprings PA concurrently and prospectively. Increasing and maintaining PA in youth predicts higher PA levels in midlife.

Automated summary

This study investigated the association between parental physical activity trajectories and youth and adult physical activity of their offspring. The findings showed that parental physical activity levels were related to the physical activity levels of their offspring, and physical activity during youth predicted higher physical activity levels in adulthood.