Just because mommy and daddy like pizza doesn't mean the kids don't have to eat their vegetables. Do your homework. Eat more healthy choices and lay off those snacks. Get out there and play, be active, exercise, because mommy and daddy say so. But who doesn't want to fall on the couch to watch the next best hit show on Netflix after a long day's work? Just because mommy and daddy do it doesn't mean it's okay for the kids. These are fundamental patterns that reflect how families typically operate. Parents say it, and so the kids must do it. But, they don't. Why? Because the parents aren't modeling it.
Researchers from Sãu Paulo State University (UNESP), Brazil, studied 182 young people (aged six to seventeen) and their parents (161 mothers, 136 fathers) to understand the connection with sedentary behavior and physical activity. If parents sit a lot, it's not surprising that the kids follow suit. But, if the parents are active people, what do the kids do?
Lazy time with some fast food.Image via Canva - Photo by Odua Images
New Atlas reported on the 2025 study, which found kids consistently mirror their parents' sedentary behaviors. Diego Christófaro, PhD, an assistant professor at UNESP and co-author of the study, said, "The results indicate that parents’ level of physical activity can directly influence their children’s habits." Christófaro continued, "Sedentary habits are the result of multiple factors, such as lack of access, time, and places where physical activity can be practiced."
Some bad news about active versus non-active parents
Unfortunately, more active parents didn't necessarily have more active kids. The research simply showed children were "less likely" to engage in sedentary behavior if their parents were more active. The study's conclusion, highlighted in Science Direct, noted, "...the importance of encouraging physical activity in the family environment is highlighted, since a higher level of parental physical activity contributes to the reduction in sedentary behavior of children and adolescents."
Parents' behaviors directly influence all kinds of habits in children
A 2025 study published in the National Library of Medicine involved 89,545 youths and 13,856 parents. The study found, "associations between parental physical activity, sleep, dietary habits, mental health, screen time, and their children's BMIs [Body Mass Index]." It continued, "Parenting styles significantly influence children's behaviors. This review highlights the crucial influence of parenting styles and behaviors on children's physical activity, diet, sleep, and mental health, emphasizing the link between family dynamics and childhood obesity." Again, studies suggest the more unhealthy the parental habits, the more influential and damaging the effects on kids.
Child intently watches what you do. media3.giphy.com
Children are observational learners
Kids learn many of their habits through observational learning. Kendra Cherry, MSEd, an expert in child psychology, wrote about the four stages of this kind of learning in Verywell Mind:
- Attention: focused observation of what the parents are doing.
- Retention: remembering what they saw.
- Reproduction: attempting to replicate the behavior.
- Motivation: perceived reward for engaging in the behavior.
Family biking on a beautiful day.Image via Canva - Photo by Monkey Business Images
One of the more important components of being a good role model for your children is understanding that while your behavior is influential, it may not always be replicable for the child. In other words, just because you model great behavior, your child may still find those habits difficult to copy. This doesn't mean you should stop or give up, though. The studies show that consistent healthy behavior does influence them for the better over time. Besides, modeling healthy behavior for your kids isn't just good for them; it has a positive effect on your health and wellness too.
Robin Williams performs for military men and women as part of a United Service Organization (USO) show on board Camp Phoenix in December 2007
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A woman conducts a online color testCanva
A selection of color swatchesCanva
A young boy takes a color examCanva 
Pictured: A healthy practice?
Will your current friends still be with you after seven years?
Professor shares how many years a friendship must last before it'll become lifelong
Think of your best friend. How long have you known them? Growing up, children make friends and say they’ll be best friends forever. That’s where “BFF” came from, for crying out loud. But is the concept of the lifelong friend real? If so, how many years of friendship will have to bloom before a friendship goes the distance? Well, a Dutch study may have the answer to that last question.
Sociologist Gerald Mollenhorst and his team in the Netherlands did extensive research on friendships and made some interesting findings in his surveys and studies. Mollenhorst found that over half of your friendships will “shed” within seven years. However, the relationships that go past the seven-year mark tend to last. This led to the prevailing theory that most friendships lasting more than seven years would endure throughout a person’s lifetime.
In Mollenhorst’s findings, lifelong friendships seem to come down to one thing: reciprocal effort. The primary reason so many friendships form and fade within seven-year cycles has much to do with a person’s ages and life stages. A lot of people lose touch with elementary and high school friends because so many leave home to attend college. Work friends change when someone gets promoted or finds a better job in a different state. Some friends get married and have children, reducing one-on-one time together, and thus a friendship fades. It’s easy to lose friends, but naturally harder to keep them when you’re no longer in proximity.
Some people on Reddit even wonder if lifelong friendships are actually real or just a romanticized thought nowadays. However, older commenters showed that lifelong friendship is still possible:
“I met my friend on the first day of kindergarten. Maybe not the very first day, but within the first week. We were texting each other stupid memes just yesterday. This year we’ll both celebrate our 58th birthdays.”
“My oldest friend and I met when she was just 5 and I was 9. Next-door neighbors. We're now both over 60 and still talk weekly and visit at least twice a year.”
“I’m 55. I’ve just spent a weekend with friends I met 24 and 32 years ago respectively. I’m also still in touch with my penpal in the States. I was 15 when we started writing to each other.”
“My friends (3 of them) go back to my college days in my 20’s that I still talk to a minimum of once a week. I'm in my early 60s now.”
“We ebb and flow. Sometimes many years will pass as we go through different things and phases. Nobody gets buttsore if we aren’t in touch all the time. In our 50s we don’t try and argue or be petty like we did before. But I love them. I don’t need a weekly lunch to know that. I could make a call right now if I needed something. Same with them.”
Maintaining a friendship for life is never guaranteed, but there are ways, psychotherapists say, that can make a friendship last. It’s not easy, but for a friendship to last, both participants need to make room for patience and place greater weight on their similarities than on the differences that may develop over time. Along with that, it’s helpful to be tolerant of large distances and gaps of time between visits, too. It’s not easy, and it requires both people involved to be equally invested to keep the friendship alive and from becoming stagnant.
As tough as it sounds, it is still possible. You may be a fortunate person who can name several friends you’ve kept for over seven years or over seventy years. But if you’re not, every new friendship you make has the same chance and potential of being lifelong.