Gathering perspectives on extended family influence on African American children’s physical activity

Regular physical activity is important for children’s health and wellbeing (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). For school age children, the family and home environment are key social determinants of physical activity engagement and other health behaviors, since parents and other relatives who serve as caregivers typically control children’s use of time and access to resources related to physical activity (Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Midcourse Report Subcommittee of the President’s Council on Fitness, 2012). There is a need for research that defines how and why specific components of family life influence school age children’s physical activity behaviors (Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Midcourse Report Subcommittee of the President’s Council on Fitness, 2012). Family socialization strategies influence children’s behaviors (Coard, Wallace, Stevenson, & Brotman, 2004). Parents and other relatives may have a variety of direct and indirect influences on children’s physical activity engagement, including role modeling, involvement, facilitation, and encouragement (Welk, 1999). Because parents typically socialize children to adopt the behaviors necessary to be accepted by and successful within a particular cultural group, influences and socialization strategies are best examined within the cultural contexts in which they occur (Coard et al., 2004). It is also important to consider the familial history, roles, beliefs, and values that impact those influences and the contexts in which they are carried out (Yasui & Dishion, 2007). One cultural context of importance is children’s relationships with family members. Culturally defined relationship dynamics guide children’s interactions with parents, siblings, and other relatives (Yasui & Dishion, 2007). Among African American families, these dynamics are often informed by family-based collectivism (Hatchett, Jackson, & McAdoo, 1993), which is associated with a high degree of interaction among kinship support networks such that family members might also serve as behavioral and attitudinal referents for each other (McAdoo & Younge, 2008). Additionally, extended family members have traditionally played a key role in socializing African American children to adopt cultural norms (Hatchett et al., 1993), and there are often co-parenting arrangements that involve extended family members and have fluid boundaries in gender roles as they relate to child rearing responsibilities (McAdoo & Younge, 2008). Mothers and fathers may use different socialization strategies for conveying acceptable weight-related behaviors to their children (Orrell-Valente et al., 2007). Thus, it is plausible that parents and extended family members involved in child-rearing may also use different socialization strategies. Furthermore, because of the historical experience of African Americans, an intergenerational framework is useful for exploring the diverse aspects of African American family life (Gadsden, 1999). However, extended family members’ contributions to children’s weight-related behaviors have not been adequately theorized or empirically examined, and additional research is needed to understand the child-extended family member relationship in childhood obesity prevention and management in African American families. This paper presents findings from an exploratory study that examined influences of the immediate and extended family on the physical activity and dietary behaviors of school age African American children residing in Baltimore, Maryland. We focus here on the findings related to the extended family’s role in influencing children’s physical activity behaviors.