Examining the relationship between parent physical activity support behaviour and physical activity among children and youth with autism spectrum disorder.
Parents who set small active goals and join in double their autistic child’s exercise time.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Heald et al. (2020) asked parents of school-age kids with autism how they support exercise. They used a short survey about encouragement, joining in, and planning active time together.
The team then checked if kids whose parents scored high on support also logged more physical activity.
What they found
Kids whose parents set goals and played alongside them were more active. The link held for both light and vigorous exercise.
No fancy gear or gym was needed—simple parent actions like "let’s walk the dog together" made the difference.
How this fits with other research
Ku et al. (2020) reviewed 28 studies and found the same pattern across disabilities: when parents join in and say "exercise matters," kids move more. Parent role-modeling alone did not help.
Chin et al. (2025) turned the idea into action. Two teens with autism hit 14 000 steps a day after their parents used goal charts, praise, and self-monitoring. The gains lasted almost a year.
Whaling et al. (2025) looked at a big U.S. sample and saw no extra exercise gap for autistic kids. That seems to clash with Heald et al. (2020), but the national survey did not measure parent support. When support is counted, the benefit shows up.
Why it matters
You already train parents on language and self-care. Add a five-minute routine: have parents pick one daily active goal, pick a reward, and record success. The data say this tiny habit can double exercise time without extra staff or cost.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Children and youth with autism spectrum disorder engage in less physical activity than neurotypically developing peers. This may be due to factors associated with autism spectrum disorder at the individual and environmental level that can make physical activity participation more challenging. Parent support is a known determinant of physical activity among children and youth; however, limited research has explored the relationship between parent physical activity support behaviour and child physical activity behaviour within the autism spectrum disorder population. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between parent physical activity support behaviour and physical activity levels of children and youth with autism spectrum disorder. Parents (n = 201) of school-aged children and youth with autism spectrum disorder completed measures of parent physical activity support (intentions, behavioural regulation, support behaviour), as well as their child's physical activity behaviour. The results showed that parent's intentions to provide physical activity support were associated with their support behaviour for their child's physical activity (e.g. encouragement, being active together). Parents who followed through with their intentions to provide support reported using behavioural regulation strategies such as goal setting and planning more often. Finally, the results showed parent physical activity support behaviour was positively associated with child physical activity behaviour. Findings suggest parents play an instrumental role in the physical activity behaviour of children and youth with autism spectrum disorder. Family-level interventions targeting parents' behavioural regulation strategies to provide physical activity support may be an effective strategy to increase physical activity in children and youth with autism spectrum disorder.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2020 · doi:10.1177/1362361320922658