Finnish physical activity recommendations for schoolaged

children – elementary school pupils’ parents’

awareness, actualization assessment and worry.

One of the fundamental challenges of the current Finnish health

policy is to contribute physical activity (PA) in the whole population

and in every phase of life – physical inactivity causes not only individual

disadvantages but also high communal costs. Contributing PA

requires increase in exercise and also decrease in sedentary behavior.

Explicit recommendations have been given to various age groups to

concretize adequate PA.

This study retraced elementary school pupils’ parents’ awareness

and the sources of information concerning the Finnish PA recommendations

for school-aged children. Further on parents’ assessments

and worry about the actualization of the recommendations were studied,

as well as possible associations between certain types of parents’

and children’s PA. The data was collected during autumn 2013 from

ten elementary school pupils’ parents (grades 1–6, n = 431) most of

which were aware of the recommendations.

Parents’ outlook on the adequate amount of PA and the assessment

of its’ actualization in their children’s lives were clearly contradictive –

however parents didn’t worry much about that. Children’s daily screen

time was estimated lower than researches refer and only one third of

the parents admitted children’s transgression on the recommendation

concerning constant sitting. Positive association was found between

parents’ utility PA and children’s PA amounts. Measured objective

evidence and better assimilation of the recommendations could rouse

parents to pay more attention to children’s PA.

Key words: physical activity, physical activity recommendations,

children, parents, worry, sport socialization