The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of familial resemblance in general physical fitness between adolescents and their parents. Data was gathered from a sample of adolescent-parent pairs. Parents with children between the ages of 15-19 years of age were recruited by means of a poster campaign in the Abergele, Colwyn Bay and Llandudno postal areas of Conwy, North Wales. A sample of 32 adolescent-parent pairs was employed in this research. Participants completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, and had anthropometric measures taken. The performance of adolescent-parent pairs was then measured for aerobic capacity, static strength, muscular endurance and flexibility. A correlational research design was employed for the project. The level of significance was set at p<0.01. All statistical calculations were performed using SPSS (Version 14.0 for Windows). Familial correlation models were fitted directly to the data under the assumption that the family data follow a multivariate normal distribution. The results indicated significant parent - offspring resemblance for weight (0.50), aerobic capacity (0.52), muscular endurance (0.48) and flexibility (0.60) and significant father/son resemblance for weight (0.29), height (0.46) and grip strength (0.39), together with mother/daughter resemblance for weight (0.33) and height (0.48). The results suggest that familial and perhaps genetic, factors are important in explaining the variance in general physical fitness
