Examination of the Relationship Between Physical Activity Levels and Physical Activity Perception of Families of Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Introduction: Parental perceptions have an important role in the development of positive health behaviors in children. It is known that families’ physical activity beliefs are directly related to children’s physical activity behaviors. Physical activity levels of families may affect their perception of physical activity. This study aims to investigate of the relationship between physical activity level and physical activity perception of families of children with neurodevelopmental disorder. Materials and Methods: Parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders between the ages of 2 and 6 were included in the study. Families’ characteristics, such as age, gender, income status and education level were determined by the sociodemographic form. International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to determine the physical activity level of the parents, and the Parent Perceptions of Physical Activity Scale was used to measure their perceptions of physical activity. Results: A total of 83 parents, 62 mothers and 21 fathers with a mean age of 36.47±6.14 years were included in the study. physical activity levels of the parents were 23.3% in the inactive category, 54.7% in the minimal active category and 22.1% in the highly active category. It was concluded that there was a weak level of positive correlation between the physical activity levels of the parents and the total results of physical activity perceptions (p=0.04, r=0.224) and physical activity benefits (p=0.04, r=0.219). Conclusion: It was defined that there was a low level of relationship between the families’ physical activity levels and their perceptions of physical activity. Improving parents’ perception of physical activity can also positively affect children’s physical activity behaviors. Keywords: Child, family, neurodevelopmental disorder, parents, physical activity