The Effect of Physical Activity Enjoyment on Physical Activity in Parents of Young Children with Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to examine the physical activity of parents of young children with disabilities and the effect of physical activity enjoyment on those physical activity behaviors. 135 participants completed an online survey which included the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form and the physical activity enjoyment questionnaire. Mean metabolic equivalent-minutes per week for moderate physical activity was 747.00 (SD: 747.25) and for vigorous physical activity was 654.68 (SD: 992.84). 33% of participants reported zero minutes per week of both moderate and vigorous physical activity. Two separate multiple linear regressions indicated that physical activity enjoyment was a significant predictor for both moderate physical activity (β = 0.26, p = 0.002) and vigorous physical activity (β = 0.31, p < 0.001) after controlling for the ages of parent and child. The results of this study suggest that parents of young children with disabilities who participated in physical activity were moderately physically active, but a considerable number of parents of young children with disabilities did not participate in moderate and vigorous physical activity at all. Fortunately, targeting physical activity enjoyment may be a way to promote physical activity in parents of young children with disabilities.