Active Families Boost Teens’ Physical and Mental Health

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

From bike rides to backyard footy, parents who exercise together with their teenagers are more likely to have kids with better physical and mental health, according to a new health report from the University of South Australia.

Conducted in collaboration with Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute (CHEO RI) and a team of Canadian partners, a study showed that teenagers who exercise more frequently with their families were more likely to:

• meet physical activity guidelines of 60+ minutes per day (23%)
• meet recommended screen time guidelines of two hours or less per day (74%)
• report better mental health (81%) including higher life satisfaction (67%), and lower stress (86%), anxiety (73%) and depression (89%).

The study also showed that the more regularly the family exercises together, the better the outcomes.

Dr. Justin Lang, Adjunct Professor with UniSA and the Public Health Agency of Canada, says that simple, family-based interventions can make big differences to teenagers’ health and well-being.

“We found that teenagers who exercise daily with their families are twice as likely to meet activity and screen time guidelines—and four times more likely to report stronger mental health and greater life satisfaction.

“The message is simple: when parents get active with their teens and lead by example, everyone wins. Teens feel better, move more, and their mental health is stronger.”

The study examined the responses of 8,213 Canadian teenagers aged 12–17 years, using self-reported data from the 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth.

It found that only 11% of teenagers met national guidelines of 60 minutes of medium-to-vigorous physical activity per day, and just over half (56%) of teenagers engaged in less than two hours of recreational screen time per day.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-04-families-boost-teens-physical-mental.html