Table 1. Participant and descriptive data classified by maternal awareness of child’s physical activity level
Child Characteristics
Number of participants (Female)
Age (years)
BMI (kgm-2)
BMI z-score
Has an older sibling living at home
Has a younger sibling living at home
Attends nursery
Full-time
Part-time
Maternal Characteristics
Age (years)
BMI (kgm-2)
Age leaving full-time education (years)
>16 years
17-18 years
>18 years
Physical activity level
Inactive
Moderately inactive
Moderately active
Active
Maternal Perception†
Child is outgoing
Strongly/disagree/ neither
Strongly/Agree
Child is restless
Strongly /disagree/ neither
Strongly/Agree
Child is well behaved
Strongly/disagree/neither
Strongly/Agree
Child enjoys PA
Disagree/ neither
Strongly/ agree
n (%) or mean± SD
Realistic inactive
Under-estimators
Realistic Active
Over-estimators
20 (16)
4.1 ± 0.1
16.6 ± 1.8
0.56 ± 1.1
9 (45)
10 (50)
20 (10)
4.1 ± 0.1
15.9 ± 2.0
0.02 ± 1.3
9 (45)
13 (65)
263 (129)
4.1 ± 0.1
15.9 ± 1.3
0.08 ± 0.93
137 (52)
109 (41)
175 (97)
4.1 ± 0.1
16.0 ± 1.3
0.14 ± 0.98
69 (39)
79 (45)
2 (10)
18 (90)
0 (0)
20 (100)
14 (5)
246 (95)
20 (11)
152 (89)
34.8 ± 3.1
26.3 ± 5.8
34.3 ± 3.5
27.7 ± 7.5
35.3 ± 3.6
26.5 ± 5.2
35.2 ± 2.7
26.5 ± 5.7
3 (15)
5 (25)
12 (60)
8 (40)
6 (30)
6 (30)
86 (33)
87 (33)
84 (32)
52 (30)
71 (41)
51 (29)
3 (15)
8 (40)
7 (35)
2 (10)
4 (20)
10 (50)
2 (10)
4 (20)
43 (16)
106 (40)
52 (20)
56 (21)
31 (18)
69 (39)
44 (25)
25 (14)
10 (50)
10 (50)
11 (55)
9 (45)
63 (25)
191 (75)
46 (27)
124 (73)
14 (70)
6 (30)
9 (45)
11 (55)
138 (54)
117 (46)
100 (59)
70 (41)
4 (20)
16 (80)
6 (30)
14 (70)
69 (27)
185 (73)
30 (18)
140 (82)
17 (85)
3 (15)
16 (80)
4 (20)
85 (32)
178 (68)
62 (35)
113 (65)
PA is important
Disagree/ neither
9 (45)
12 (60)
Strongly/agree
11 (55)
8 (40)
Physical activity is limited because:
Child is not interested in physical activity
Never
3 (15)
4 (20)
Rarely/Sometimes/often/very often
17 (85)
16 (80)
Child doesn’t have the skills
Never
10 (50)
10 (50)
Rarely/ Sometimes/often/very often
10 (50)
10 (50)
† Variables dichotomised; SD, standard deviation; BMI, Body Mass Index; PA, Physical Activity
78 (30)
184 (70)
49 (28)
124 (72)
125 (49)
129 (51)
85 (49)
90 (51)
186 (73)
69 (27)
110 (63)
65 (37)
Table 2. Associations between child and maternal characteristics and maternal
overestimation of their child's physical activity level
Variable
Child characteristics
Sex (ref: Male)
Age (in years)
BMI z-score
Has an older sibling living at home (ref: no older sibling)
Has a younger sibling living at home (ref: no younger sibling)
Attends nursery (ref: part-time)
Full-time
Maternal Characteristics
Age (in years)
BMI (kgm-2)
Age leaving full-time education (ref: 16 or younger)
17 or 18 years
19 years or older
Physical Activity level (ref: Inactive)
Moderately inactive
Moderately active
Active
Maternal Perception
Child is outgoing (ref: Strongly/disagree/neither)
Strongly/ Agree
Child is restless (ref: Strongly disagree/disagree/neither)
Strongly/ Agree
Child is well behaved (ref: disagree/neither)
Strongly/ Agree
Child enjoys PA (ref: Disagree/ neither)
Strongly/ Agree
PA is important ((ref: Disagree/ neither)
Strongly/Agree
Physical activity is limited because:
Child is not interested in physical activity (ref: never)
Rarely/ Sometimes/often/very often
Child doesn’t have the skills (ref: never)
Rarely/Sometimes/often/very often
Unadjusted RR
(95% CI)
1.17 (0.93, 1.47)
0.74 (0.12, 4.64)
1.05 (0.93, 1.18)
0.73 (0.57, 0.93)*
1.08 (0.86, 1.37)
1.54 (1.13, 2.10)*
Adjusted RR
(95% CI)
0.71 (0.56, 0.90)**
1.53 (1.14, 2.04)**
1.00 (0.97, 1.03)
1.00 (0.98, 1.02)
1.19 (0.91, 1.57)
1.00 (0.74, 1.36)
0.94 (0.68, 1.30)
1.09 (0.77, 1.55)
0.74 (0.48, 1.12)
0.93 (0.72, 1.21)
0.85 (0.68, 1.09)
1.42 (1.03, 1.97)*
0.92 (0.73, 1.17)
1.04 (0.81, 1.35)
1.02 (0.81, 1.28)
1.31 (1.04, 1.64)*
1.29 (1.03, 1.63)*
*p≤0.05 **p<0.005; RR, rate ratio; CI, confidence interval; ref, reference category, BMI; body mass index; PA,
physical activity. Model 2: Adjusted for nursery attendance, older sibling at home and maternal perception of
physical activity skills