In September 2011, we conducted a survey amongst our community of Irish mums about their kids’ lifestyles. Over 2,000 mums took part in the survey which yielded some very interesting results, primarily for mums but also potentially for for businesses and policymakers:
Physical Activity
Asked how much physical activity their kids got in a typical day, an impressive 67% of mums said that their kids got at least the recommended 60 minutes of activity (and a great number of these exceeded the 60 minutes substantially). However, this still left 33% of mums who said that their kids didn’t get the recommended amount of activity. Of these mums, 55% knew that their kids were not getting enough and 45% reckoned that they were getting enough exercise.
Of those mums who wanted to get more exercise for their kids, a whopping 75% cited – you guessed it – the weather as the major obstacle in achieving this.
21% of kids walk or cycle to school each at least 3 times a week and about 17% of kids never walk or cycle to school – key obstacles cited in kids not walking or cycling were that the school is too far, the route is not safe, the weather or that parents simply needed to use their car.
Take away: there is a key section of mums, around 20%, that know that their kids are not getting enough exercise and want to do something about this in a way that is independent of the Irish weather. Also, about 15% of mums are not aware that their kids are not getting the recommended (60 minutes) amount of exercise in a typical day.
Diet and Eating Habits
We asked mums how many portions of fruit and vegetables do their kids get in a typical day. A whopping 68% of mums indicated that their kids’ diets fell short of the recommended ‘5-a-day’. Of these mums, a large proportion – some 74% - said that they knew that they were falling short.
Just over 60% of Irish mums indicated that their families sat down and ate at least one meal together at least 5 times a week. Around 13% of Irish mums indicated that their families ate together once or twice a week. Around 84% of Irish mums think that their kids eat at least as well as or better than they did in childhood.
Take away: mums want help - better ideas and/or products - to help them get more fruit and vegetables into their kid’s diets.
Concern about weight
For kids who are not yet of school-going age, mums are most concerned about their child being underweight: just over 10% of mums are concerned about this. In these pre-school years, mums as whole are not really concerned about their kids being overweight: only 1.7% cites this as a concern. However, for kids of school going age, this concern reverses with 10% of mums of school going children being concerned that their kids are either slightly or more than slightly overweight. At this stage, 6.6% of mums are concerned that their kids are underweight.
If you're concerned about your child's weight, read up and take action. Small changes can make a big difference!
