According to parents, most 10- to 17- year-old children have at least one parent who exercises regularly. Overall, 72.9 percent of children have at least one parent who regularly exercises or plays sports hard enough to breathe hard, have a fast heart beat, or sweat for 20 minutes or more; the remaining 27.1 percent of children do not have a parent who regularly exercises or plays sports at this level of intensity.

Parental exercise appears to be related to overweight among children. Of all children who do not have a parent who exercises regularly, 17.0 percent are overweight; this is compared to 13.6 percent of children who do have at least one parent who exercises regularly.

As with exercise among children, parental exercise varies by family income. Among children with family incomes under 100 percent of the Federal poverty level (FPL), 56.7 percent have at least one parent who exercises regularly. This rate continues to rise with family income, and among children with family incomes at 400 percent of FPL and above, 83.8 percent have at least one parent who exercises regularly.