This study was carried out with the objectives of determining the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Spanish minors; identify the possible relationships between them and PA habits in adults; and explain whether these relationships have socio-economic variables for the sample under study. To achieve them, a cross-sectional observational study was carried out based on data from the last available Spanish National Health Survey (2017) of 7598 surveys answered by an adult living in a home in which the existence of a minor older than 5 years. The proportion of overweight minors decreases as the level of education of the adult is higher. Likewise, the number of underweight children increases slightly with the increase in the level of education of the adult. In general, minors engage in physical activity more frequently than adults (38.1% of sedentary adults compared to 13.7% of minors) and this frequency increases as the level of education of the adult is higher. Therefore, the results obtained show that Spanish minors tend to replicate the lifestyles related to the physical activity of the adults with whom they live. This makes adults the target population to influence primary and secondary prevention health policies to improve their health and that of the children around them.
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Antela, B. B., Leirós-Rodríguez, R., & García-Soidán, J. L. (2021). Are adults an influential role model in children’s physical activity habits? An observational study of the Spanish population. Retos, (39), 306–311. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v0i39.78528