高學歷媽媽忽視運動？《明報》/ Do Highly Educated Mothers Overlook the Importance of Exercise?

高學歷媽媽忽視運動？《明報》 

【明報專訊】古語有云︰「勤有功，戲無益」。在中國人傳統教育下的家長，很多時會認為遊戲與運動是不務正業，影響孩子的學業成績。近年愈來愈多研究指出運動對兒童發展有種種好處，但家長對體能活動的看法又有否改變？他們的看法又如何影響教養行為？

為了解家長對體能活動的看法與教養活動的關係，本研究團隊訪問了201個幼稚園家長，了解他們的體能屬性（physical activity attribute），包括對運動重要度的認知、親子運動的享受程度、鼓勵孩子運動的信心，從而審視不同性別、年齡及學歷的家長對體能活動的認知差異，以及他們的認知如何影響教養行為。 

受「把學習成績與運動對立」思維影響

研究結果顯示，家長對兒童體能的重視程度會直接影響他們的日常教養行為。例如，家長愈明白運動的重要，對子女參與體能活動會給予愈多情感支援和自主選擇，亦會安排更多有組織或親子形式的體能活動。此外，他們會較少追求子女在運動上的成就，或以禁止運動作為懲罰。

研究又發現學歷高的母親，傾向輕視保持孩子活躍的重要，較少享受親子運動，亦較少建立孩子在運動方面的信心。這可能源於上一代「男動女靜」的社會期望，以及女生較受傳統「把學習成績與運動對立」的思維影響，致使高學歷的女性更傾向忽視運動的重要，並影響下一代幼兒的體能發展。這類母親傾向採用保守和被動的教養方法，如較少主動組織家庭體能活動。在新冠疫情及流感肆虐的環境下，孩子就更難保持良好的體能發展。另一方面，她們對指導孩子的體能活動欠缺信心及情感支援，會令孩子更難投入或維持有系統的體能活動。

協助家長將運動融入生活

要改變家長對運動的看法，可以從社區教育層面着手，讓更多家長認識體能發展對孩子的健康、學業、心理發展的重要。康文署也可與各校家長教師會聯合舉辦工作坊，協助家長因應孩子的興趣和才能，有系統地組織體能活動。對於較少做運動的家長，他們對運動的信心可能較弱，未必知道如何鼓勵孩子做運動的信心。事實上，政府和不少機構都有提供資訊，協助家長將運動融入家庭生活，如本校幼兒教育學系便設有HKidsMove項目，家長可以在官方網頁（www.hkidsmove.info）、facebook專頁和YouTube頻道，獲取不同體能發展活動的信息，學習如何在家做親子瑜伽和體能遊戲，讓全家人一同以運動放鬆心情並感受休閒的樂趣。

文：Dr. Catherine M. Capio（香港教育大學幼兒教育學系助理教授）、梁亦華（香港教育大學教育及人類發展學院博士後研究員）

Capio, C. M., & Leung, Y. W. (2023.02.21). Do Highly Educated Mothers Overlook the Importance of Exercise? MingPao. https://ol.mingpao.com/ldy/family/parentchild/20230221/1676916872536

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Do Highly Educated Mothers Overlook the Importance of Exercise? (MingPao)

An old Chinese saying runs: “Diligence brings reward; play is useless.” Among many parents shaped by traditional Chinese education, games and sport are still treated as distractions from academic success rather than part of a child’s growth. Research in recent years has steadily dismantled that assumption, linking physical activity to a wide range of developmental benefits. Yet whether parental attitudes have shifted remains an open question, as does the way those attitudes shape everyday parenting.

To explore the relationship between parents’ views on physical activity and their parenting practices, our research team surveyed 201 kindergarten parents. The study examined their “physical activity attributes”: how strongly they valued exercise, how much they enjoyed parent-child physical activities, and how confident they felt encouraging their children to be active. We then analysed how perceptions differed across gender, age and educational background, and how those perceptions filtered into parenting behaviour.

The findings point to a direct relationship between parents’ attitudes towards physical activity and the routines they establish at home. Parents who recognised the importance of exercise were more likely to provide emotional support for their children’s participation, allow greater autonomy in choosing activities, and organise more structured or family-based physical activities. They were also less inclined to prioritise sporting achievement or use restrictions on exercise as punishment.

One finding stood out. Mothers with higher levels of education tended to place less importance on keeping children physically active, derived less enjoyment from parent-child exercise, and were less likely to build their children’s confidence in sport and movement. Part of this may reflect older social expectations that men should be active while women remain restrained, alongside a deeply rooted tendency to frame academic achievement and sport as opposing pursuits. Women who advanced through highly competitive education systems may therefore be more likely to internalise the idea that exercise is secondary to study, carrying those assumptions into the next generation and affecting young children’s physical development in turn.

Such mothers were also more likely to adopt cautious and passive parenting approaches, showing less initiative in organising family physical activities. In an environment shaped by recurring outbreaks of Covid-19 and seasonal influenza, children face even greater difficulty maintaining healthy physical development. A lack of parental confidence in guiding physical activity, coupled with limited emotional support, can further weaken a child’s willingness to engage in sustained and structured exercise.

Changing parental attitudes towards sport requires more than isolated health campaigns. Community education has a role to play in helping parents understand how physical development underpins not only children’s health, but also their academic and psychological well-being. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department could work with school parent-teacher associations to organise workshops that help families structure physical activities around children’s interests and abilities.

Parents who exercise less themselves often lack confidence in encouraging their children to be active, and may simply not know where to begin. Yet resources already exist. Government departments and non-profit organisations have produced a range of materials designed to help families incorporate exercise into daily life. The HKidsMove project run by our Department of Early Childhood Education, for example, provides information through its official website, Facebook page and YouTube channel, offering guidance on parent-child yoga, home-based movement games and other activities that allow families to relax together through exercise while rediscovering the pleasures of leisure.