Richard Williams mentored daughters Serena & Venus from an early age.
Last week, I ran in my local, grassroots 10K race and noticed several father/child pairs running together.
As Americans celebrate Father’s Day, it's a good time to explore the benefit of dads exercising with their children. What a wonderful way to teach your children about the benefits of exercise and a healthy lifestyle. What greater gift (a lifetime of healthy behavior) can we, as fathers, pass on to our children, not to mention the bonding aspect of the father/son, father/daughter relationship?
In an article originally published by Frank Pittman in Psychology Today (September, 1993) the author states: 'For a couple of hundred years now, each generation of fathers has passed on less and less to his sons -- not just less power but less wisdom. As a result, masculinity ceased to be defined in terms of domestic involvement - that is, skills at fathering and husbanding - and began to be defined in terms of making money. Men stopped doing all the things they used to do. Instead, they became primarily Father the Provider, bringing things home to the family rather than living and working at home within the family.’ Pittman then goes on to say that ‘...becoming a Father rather than just a Provider enables a man to fully feed and express his humanity and masculinity. Fathering is the most masculine thing a man can do.’
The sight of men running (exercising) with their children seemed to put right the misguided notion of the uninvolved father. It also allowed me to put right the fatigue in my lungs and legs, as I pondered the concept of masculinity: not as the current societal perception that carries a negative connotation, but as a very positive and necessary idea for the healthy development of society.
Over the years, I’ve written about the physiologic benefits of exercise and the benefits of an active summer vacation as the starting point for a lifetime of fitness. The fathers I saw running with their children certainly got a head start on the pack this year. Father’s Day creates another perfect moment to get started on or step up sport and fitness habits.
Many studies demonstrate the effects of a father's involvement and health status on their children's physical health. In a summary of the literature, Allen and Daly (2007) state that the obesity of the father is associated with a four-fold increase in the risk of obesity of sons and daughters at age 18 (Burke, Beilin, & Dunbar, 2001). In addition, a father's BMI (Body Mass Index) predicts sons' and daughters' BMI independent of offspring's alcohol intake, smoking, physical fitness, and father's education (Burke, Beilin, & Dunbar, 2001). The father's (not the mother's), total and percentage body fat was the best predictor of changes in daughter's total and percentage body fat (Figueroa-Colon, Arani, Goran, &Weinsier, 2000) as well as the father's diet and enjoyment of physical activity. As his BMI rose, so did his daughters (Davison & Birch, 2001). More active toddlers were more likely to have a father with a lower BMI than less active children (Finn, Johannsen & Specker, 2002). This finding echoes other research that found that fathers' inactivity was a strong predictor of children's inactivity (Trost, Kerr, Ward, & Pate, 2001; Fogelholm, Nuutinen, Pasanen, Myohanen, & Saatela, 1999).
The take away here is to 'man up' by 'fathering up.' Get out there and exercise with your children.
Play with them, teach them, and be physically active with them. Pass down your sports and skills to them. You will feel better in ways you may not even imagine. Being on the other side of child rearing, I see my own adult sons being active and physically fit in their lives as a result of the example that was set for them. By setting the tone and making fitness a priority that you share with your children, they in turn will make it a priority in their lives. Exercise is the best medicine.
Happy Father's Day!
References
Allen, Sarah PhD and Kerry Daly, PhD. The Effects of Father Involvement: An Updated Research Summary of the Evidence. University of Guelph May 2007 pp.5-6.
Burke, V., Beilin, L. J., & Dunbar, D. (2001). Family lifestyle and parental body mass index as predictors of body mass index in Australian children: A longitudinal study. Journal of Obesity, 25 (2), 147-157.
Davison, K. K., & Birch, L. L. (2001). Child and parent characteristics as predictors of change in girls' body mass index. International Journal of Obesity, 25 (12), 1834 - 1842.
Figueroa-Colon, R. Arani, R.B, Goran, M. I., & Weinsier, R. L. (2000). Paternal body fat is a longitudinal predictor of changes in body fat in premenarcheal girls. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 71 (3), 829-834.
Finn, K., Johannsen, N., & Specker, B. (2002). Factors associated with physical activity in preschool children. The Journal of Pediatrics, 140, 81-85.
Fogelholm, M., Nuutinen, O., Pasanen, M. Myohanen, E., & Saatela, T. (1999). Parent-child relationship of physical activity patterns and obesity. International Journal of Obesity, 23 (12), 1262 - 1268.
Pittman, Frank. Fathers and Sons: in Psychology Today, September 1, 1993. Rev. June 9, 2016.
Trost, S. G., Kerr, L. M., Ward, D. S., & Pate, R. R. (2001) Physical activity and determinants of physical activity in obese and non-obese children. International Journal of Obesity, 25 (6), 822- 829.