Teun Remmers

206 | Summary Chapter 3 describes a study on the relationship between PA enjoyment and measured PA in 9-year-old boys and girls. Here we have analyzed previously collected accelerometer data from the KOALA Birth Cohort Study. We found that children with higher scores on PA enjoyment, did not perform more daily PA. This is because the relationship differed for boys compared to girls and for children with different personality-characteristics (i.e. impulsivity). In this case, gender and impulsivity are so-called moderating factors in the relationship between PA enjoyment and PA behavior. This study therefore shows that relationships between psychosocial factors and PA behavior are not straightforward, and that information on gender and personality increases our understanding of how these factors interrelate. The study in chapter 4 investigated the influence of the perceived physical- and social environment on children's outside play. Here we used existing data from the 'Be Active Eat Right' study, where total duration of outside play was assessed by parental questionnaires. We found that social environmental determinants were generally stronger compared to perceived physical environmental determinants, at both five and seven years. Habit strength towards parental promotion of outside play, the presence of parental rules regarding outside play, and having physically active siblings were stable correlates of outside play. These findings demonstrated that the social environment, and especially parental rearing variables, were a strong correlate of outside play in five and seven-year-old children. The study in chapter 5 also focusses on determinants of outside play in the physical- and social environment. We have analyzed existing data from the KOALA Birth Cohort Study, where the duration of outside play was assessed by questionnaire. Following up on the results found in chapter 4, we investigated whether the relationship between the perceived physical environment and children's outside play was influenced by parenting influences and social capital. We found that parent-perceived accessibility to PA facilities, social capital in the neighborhood, and positive parental attitudes towards PA were associated with more minutes outside play. In contrast, concern regarding their child's PA and restriction of screen time was associated with fewer minutes outside play. The influence of the perceived environment was less important if parents did not perceive responsibility towards their child's PA levels. This means that parent's responsibility is an important moderating factor in children's outside play.