Abstract
Mothersʼ dissatisfaction with their child-rearing experience may adversely influence the playing and exercise behavior of their children ； however, this relationship remains unclear. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between mothersʼ dissatisfaction with child-rearing and the physical fitness characteristic of their young children. The subjects were 2,720 young children （1,379 boys and 1,341 girls ； age range ： 3.0-6.0 years） and their mothers. We administered physical fitness tests consisting of 10 exercises to these children. Each test score was divided every sex and 0.5 years, and we calculated individual T-score. We also administered questionnaires about child-rearing to their mothers. The results showed that young children whose mothers constantly felt dissatisfied with child-rearing had low physical fitness （always feel dissatisfied ； 49.1, sometimes ； 50.0, rarely ； 50.1) . Furthermore, mothers who constantly felt dissatisfied in child-rearing were significantly lower percentage that play or exercise with their children （constantly feel dissatisfied ； 53.6％, sometimes ； 76.2％, rarely ； 80.9％) , and they also tended to be the primary child-rearing figures in their families. On the basis of these results, we suggest that parents must cooperate in child rearing to alleviate the mothersʼ sense of dissatisfaction and thereby improve the physical fitness of their children.
