Inherited and Environmental Influences on Child Physical Activity: An Adoption Study
Open Access
- Author:
- Davis, Grace Deford
- Area of Honors:
- Psychology
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Jenae Marie Neiderhiser, Thesis Supervisor
Dr. Susan Mohammed, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- child physical activity
parent BMI
parent physical activity
parenting
adoption design - Abstract:
- Child physical activity plays an important role in decreasing risk for obesity, preventing health issues, and improving mental well-being. Both the family environment and heritable factors influence physical activity in childhood; however, few genetically-informed designs have examined the unique contributions of inherited and environmental influences and the interplay between these influences on child physical activity. Using a longitudinal adoption design, the present study examined the inherited (birth mother body mass index [BMI] and physical activity) and environmental (adoptive parent [AP1 and AP2] role modeling and logistical support) influences, as well as environmental moderation effects, on adopted child physical activity at age 9 years (N = 361). At 5 months postpartum, birth mother BMI was assessed using self-reported height and weight. When children were age 9 years, AP role modeling/logistical support of child physical activity was assessed using the Parent Activity Support Scale, and adopted child physical activity was assessed with parent report using a 3-day activity recall. Results showed that birth mother physical activity and AP1 logistical support were significantly associated with adopted child physical activity. Additionally, AP2 logistical support moderated the heritable influence of birth mother physical activity such that at high levels of AP2 logistical support, adopted children of high physical activity birth mothers engaged in higher levels of physical activity compared to adopted children of low physical activity birth mothers. These findings support the influence of inherited and environmental factors on child physical activity and suggest that supportive parenting practices may promote the expression of children’s inherited tendency for physical activity.