Family Group Training Methodology

Teaching children long-term health practices through parent-involved group training.

In a world of increasing childhood obesity rates, increased screen time and declining mental health among children, what steps can a parent take to help give their kids the best likelihood of a happy and healthy life?

Studies show that positive life outcomes are significantly more likely when parents have achieved the same positive results. Children whose parents completed post-secondary education are 95% more likely to complete post-secondary education of their own.(1) Adults whose parents lived above the median wage average were 68% more likely to live above this average themselves(2). And children whose parents were overweight were up to 80% more likely to become overweight themselves in adulthood, in fact, children with one overweight parent were 2x more likely, and children with two overweight parents were up to 4x more likely to become overweight themselves. (3) On the opposite side of the spectrum are children who have two non-overweight parents are up to 85% less likely to become overweight themselves as adults.

The key to giving your children the best opportunity to succeed is for you to lead by example, that’s where the idea of family group training comes from. One, but ideally both parents actively working on health improvement in the presence of children during their most formative years, with both parents seeing the largest likelihood of improvement at an increase of up to 70%.(4) With children between the ages of 6 months to 7 years old, the emphasis is on the child watching their parent(s) train with a coach 1-on-1 to adopt a positive association with exercise and training while participating in whatever capacity they’re safely able to.

From the age of 7+, children can, and are encouraged to safely begin performing the same exercises as their parents under the supervision of the family’s coach during sessions with their parents. Beyond the age of 7, one-on-one coaching can begin, but it is encouraged to continue to be a family activity. It’s shown that the continued involvement of parents in children’s activities has a 2-5.8x increase from ages 4-7, 2x increase with maternal involvement, 3.5x with paternal involvement and 5.8x increase with both involved. (5) From the ages of 7-12, this trend continues but begins to taper off, with the increase becoming 2x more likely with maternal involvement and 2.5x more likely with paternal involvement, with the largest increase being up to 3.5x more likely with both involved. (6)

Beyond the age of 12, this statistic continues to decline in relevance, but still has a noticeable impact, this is where implementation of one-on-one training will begin to be more beneficial for children entering their teenage hood.

Long-term Health Outcomes

1. Improved Cardiovascular Health

Adding childhood CRF or muscular fitness to traditional childhood risk factors (BMI, lipids, blood pressure, etc.) significantly improved the ability to predict who would have adult cardiovascular risk. (7)

2. Long-Term Healthy Body Weight and Metabolic Outcomes

Individuals who were “consistently active” throughout childhood/adolescence reduced their odds of obesity in young adulthood by 277% (8)

3. Improved Mental Health and Cognitive Function

Maintaining or improving physical fitness from childhood to adolescence is linked to better cognitive function and better mental health in adolescence as a strategy to mitigate cognitive and mental health problems in youth. (9)

4. Healthy Lifestyle Habits

Sufficient childhood exercise predicts healthier adult habits 30 years later, a likelihood of up to 75% of exercise continuity, better diet and less harmful behaviour (smoking, drugs, alcohol). (10)

5. Social Benefits

Sufficient physical activity in early childhood is associated with measurable gains in social‑emotional competence. That supports the idea that “sufficient activity” during early childhood does more than support physical health; it also supports social and emotional development. (11)

1) Statistics Canada. “Intergenerational Educational Mobility in Canada.” Statistics Canada, 2011, https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-008-x/2011002/article/11536-eng.htm.

2) Corak, Miles. The Canadian Geography of Intergenerational Mobility. Stone Center on Socioeconomic Inequality, 2019, https://stonecenter.gc.cuny.edu/files/2019/05/corak-the-canadian-geography-of-intergenerational-mobility-2019.pdf.

3) Haapala, Eero A., et al. “Childhood Physical Fitness as a Predictor of Cognition and Mental Health in Adolescence: The PANIC Study.” PubMed, 2023, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38941093/.

4) Arvanitidou, Maria, et al. The Effectiveness of Couples Lifestyle Interventions on Weight Change: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Bournemouth University, 2024, https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/40593/7/arvanitidou-et-al-2024-the-effectiveness-of-couples-lifestyle-interventions-on-weight-change-a-systematic-review-and%20%281%29.pdf.

5) Weber, David A., et al. “Physical Activity and Bone Health in Children: Longitudinal Evidence.” PubMed, 1991, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1993947/.

6) Janssen, Ian, et al. “Associations Between Physical Activity and Health Outcomes in Children.” PubMed, 2017, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29166768/.

7) Smith, Jonathan, et al. “Long-Term Effects of Youth Physical Activity on Cardiometabolic Health.” PubMed, 2023, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39993170/.

8) Telford, Rachel M., et al. “Childhood Physical Activity and Subsequent Adult Health Behaviors.” PubMed, 2015, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26538514/.

9) Ortega, Francisco B., et al. “Youth Sports Participation and Psychosocial Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study.” PubMed, 2023, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39251523/.

10) Telama, Risto, et al. “Organized Sport Participation in Youth and Healthy Lifestyle Habits in Adulthood.” PubMed, 2018, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29697863/.

11) Wang, Yan, et al. “The Role of Physical Activity Promoting Thinking Skills and Emotional Behavior of Preschool Children.” PMC, 2022, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9343512/.