Observational Study"We Are an Active Family": Promoting Child Physical Activity Through Social Identity Formation in the Family System

This group will receive sessions and information-based booklet and series of worksheets that provide a tangible knowledge translation product for the family. The material will consist of Canada's PA guidelines recommending 60 minutes of MVPA a day and a breakdown of ways for the parent to help their child achieve this PA, outlining three main domains of parental support (encouragement, logistical support, and PA together). The material also contains information about the benefits of PA for the child and how to plan for family PA. The material specifically includes a brainstorming exercise for parents where they list physical activities they think their children have found fun in the past. The investigators will provide this material as prompts/suggestions. This list helps create the template for PA planning by contextualizing what the parents would like to do with their kids. An additional two sessions will include education and planning material related to family healthy eating.

This group will receive the same content as the education+planning comparison condition but with two additional coaching sessions. The session will include short overviews of the benefits of PA as a family, brainstorming how a family can each assist each other in PA, and an activity for developing a family PA action plan. Behavior change techniques that align with these approaches and are included in the coaching session include identity salience, identity similarity, as well as identity fit and contrast. This will be supplemented by an organization of fun family PA roles for all members (e.g., activity planner, goal setter, supporter, etc.) to instill involvement as well as items (creation of a family PA t-shirt, family PA photos and display, etc.) to instill distinctiveness, which is a central feature of a social identity.

This group will receive the same content as the education+planning as well as two additional sessions. This includes short overviews of the benefits of PA as a family, brainstorming how a family can each assist each other in PA, and an activity for developing a family PA action plan. Behavior change techniques such as identity salience, identity similarity, and identity fit and contrast are included in the coaching session include. This will be supplemented by an organization of fun family PA roles for all members (e.g., activity planner, goal setter, supporter, etc.) to instill involvement as well as items (creation of a family PA t-shirt, family PA photos and display, etc.) to instill distinctiveness, which is a central feature of a social identity. Worksheets and discussion will be included. The second session will involve only the parent(s) to focus on parental support identity and the content is based on the behavior change principles of self-identity theory.