Young children are much more likely to be physically active if their mothers are, however not enough mothers are being active, a new study suggests.

According to UK researchers, parents are, not surprisingly, a major influence on their children. Patterns of behaviour that children learn in their first few years of life can have long-term consequences for them.

The researchers wanted to investigate this further in relation to physical activity.

They studied the activity levels of over 550 mothers and their pre-school children, all aged four, and found that the amount of activity a mother did was closely related to the amount of activity her child did.

This suggests that when it comes to being active, mothers have a key role in setting the pace for their children.

However, the study also found that many mothers were simply not active enough.

Only 53% undertook 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity at least once a week. Adults are recommended to undertake 30 minutes of at least moderate intensity activity five times a week - the equivalent of 150 minutes.

The researchers from the Universities of Cambridge and Southampton said that the findings indicate that children are not ‘just naturally active' and parents actually have an essential role in how active and healthy they will be.

They noted that many of the mothers in this study worked and their children attended childcare facilities. This, they acknowledged, could influence the activity levels of both the mothers and their children.

Other things that appeared to influence the mothers' activity levels were their education, whether they had other children and whether the children's father was present.

The researchers used an activity monitor that was attached to both the mothers and children all the time, even when they slept.

This allowed them to capture the mothers' and children's activity levels ‘for the whole of the measurement period, matching hour for hour maternal-child activity levels'.

"This comparison provided us with detailed information about how the association between mothers and children's activity changed throughout the day, and how things such as childcare attendance and maternal education influenced the relationship," they noted.

The researchers saw ‘a direct, positive association between physical activity in children and their mothers' - the more active the mother was, the more active the child was.

The researchers acknowledged that there are a lot of ‘competing priorities for new parents and making time to be active may not always be top of the list'.

"However, small increases in maternal activity levels may lead to benefits for mothers and children. And if activity levels in mothers and children can be incorporated into daily activities, so that more time is spent moving, activity levels are likely to increase in both. In return, this is likely to have long-term health benefits for both," they added.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Pediatrics.