INTERGENERATIONAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES AND WELL-BEING IN CHILDHOOD

Abstract

The objective of this work was to examine whether the practice of physical activity shared by grandparents and grandchildren is associated with increased psychological and physical well-being in childhood. In this research, participants were 1080 children aged 6 to 12 (53.61% female and 46.38% male) from northern Spain. Concerning leisure, 32.4% of the children practiced physical leisure activity with their grandparents and considered that sharing leisure with their grandparents contributed to their psychological and physical well-being. The practice of physical activity shared by grandparents and grandchildren was positively associated with the grandchildren’s greater perception of physical and psychological well-being.  Social and family intervention policies should be aimed at fostering intergenerational settings for family physical activity because of their contribution to children's physical-sports adherence and to the increase in children’s physical and psychological well-being.