Table 2 Physical activity: summary of themes from new parent and preschool parent focus groups with illustrative quotes

7

″We went to the botanical gardens on Monday. If I^′d done that with friends we^′d probably take a couple of bottles of wine … But when you take a child, I guess you take balls and cricket bats instead.″ [NP 8]

1

″We used to go shopping; now we go to the park.″ [PP 6]

″It^′s fun…they just love it, and they laugh and they enjoy that.″ [NP 3]

″With activity I would like her to go in as much as possible for social activities, rather than just being a loner. I think social activities provide social skills that are… a key precursor to academic success.″[NP 6]

″… all games in one way or another are learning; they have to learn rules, learn you can lose, you can win, you learn in a lot of respects whatever the game is.″ [NP 1]

″It makes me think about a bit more of a routine for us… you sit down and eat and then you go and play. So trying to introduce more structure to start with.″ [NP 2]

″Try and get your husband to have a bit of playtime and activity time, share it up a bit.″ [NP 2]

″Oh its good [physical activity]. It makes them sleep.″ [NP 4]

″It makes them healthy.″ [NP 2]

4

″It looks exhausting sometimes when you see others. Like a girlfriend^′s got a one year old and we go out to lunch and it is exhausting because she is running after her kid and sitting down or standing up or occupied all the time. So you think it is a twenty four hour job now, but it is more when they start running around.″ [NP 2]

1

″You worry they^′ve been at kinder all day, they^′ve done one activity, now they^′ve come home. Have they had enough or should they be off doing something else? Should I enrol them in so many different things? So there^′s that dilemma.″ [PP 7]

″Sometimes I don^′t feel like she^′s getting enough stimulation… she wants to run around the house and garden rather than sitting and drawing.″ [NP 7]

″You can^′t be somewhere at four o^′clock and somewhere at four-o-five. It^′s just too hard. And at some point they^′ve got to do their homework and kids need to be able to relax.″ [PP 7]

″I don^′t want him to be a complete sports head. I want him to have not just physical time but also times to be creative.″ [NP 5]

″I am thinking of my house and her just getting into all the floorboards and stuff.. I rang a friend to come over and help me spray my house because it^′s just [I^′m concerned about] the cleanliness issue.″ [NP 2]

″You just have to get used to the fact that they are going to injure themselves.″[NP 7]

3

″I think it [physical activity] will come naturally for her.″ [NP 1]

2

″Some of these kids have been here for 3 hours and they^′re running from the swing to the slide to this to that. At this age they just run naturally from one thing to another.″ [PP 7]

″…but him being a boy and boys generally being really into sports…boys normally want to do football and basketball …″ [NP 5]

″[child 1] likes the computer and I do that with him, and he likes TV and he is much more of an inside kid. [child 2] is very different, she wants to be outside.″ [PP 8]

4

″I just think it^′s also influenced by the family and I know my husband grew up in a very sporty family, all boys, and it was wonderful that we were having a boy. It will just be expected of him to be an active person.″ [NP 6]

3

″Well my husband^′s from a very sporting family so he^′s very interested in it. He likes to watch sport on tele[vision] and we go and watch people doing sport and that sort of makes the kids interested in doing it [sport] as well.″ [PP 9]

″Some kids are using computers and are playing Playstation all day where as some families are sport focused all the time.″ [NP 1]

″We just got a trailer bike. So now the four of us can go riding all together. For us that^′s what we do as a family.″ [PP 8]

5

6

3

″Even having a family pet means that they have the activity; walking the dog or playing with the dog.″ [NP 3]

5

″He^′s got the bike, he^′s got the trampoline, he^′s got swings, there^′s everything there for him – scooters, rollerblades, it^′s all there.″[PP 2]

″We do a lot of trips away, and we tent it [camp] every year. So I^′m really looking forward to showing [infant] the coast and taking him there and taking him to the pool, and they^′ve got active stuff for the kids to do.″ [NP 7]

″My son loves TV and we just get to a point where we have turn it off and say, ^′Let^′s get dressed and go outside for a little while. You can watch it again later on.^′ And as soon as it^′s off they forget about it [television]″. [PP 6]

2

″These playgroups are a good way to start [with active play] because we are all first mothers and there^′s no other babies within the family, so it^′s great for them to socialise.″ [NP 6]

6

″I find that if the neighbour^′s kids are home, they will leave it [the television] and run next door and play over there….″ [PP 5]

″My husband and I walk while the two kids have their bikes and they^′ll just go off at a bit of a distance.″[PP 5]

″If you^′re going to do that [say they have to go outside and be active] you have to engage yourself. Sometimes they^′re quite happy to go off but you^′ve still got to be there.″ [PP 8]

3

″Getting them at an early age involved in something that^′s once a week, you^′d go and do this thing that^′s physical and you keep fit.″ [NP 5]

0

″I^′ve started at Gymbaroo, which is one day a week. I just see it as a bit of balance.″[NP 7]

3

″My husband^′s a sports nut and he can^′t wait to get her out there. And me, I love swimming, so I can^′t wait to get her down to the pool.″ [NP 8]

1

″Sometimes you might have to initiate things like going to the park.″ [PP 9]

″At the moment I walk most places. That is something I would like him to be able to do as well.″ [NP 6]

0

3

″With my girls I was really keen to do things like swimming lessons from an early age… it^′s a real advantage in school if they can do something they^′ve sort of accomplished. Like if they get to school and they can already swim.″ [PP 9]

″We have to go out of our way to teach them sports because we have found if you don^′t … you get to a certain age where they just won^′t do it… and they won^′t play because they are the only ones who don^′t know how to … and that kind of limits what sporting activity they do.″ [PP 5]

″I^′m trying to teach them activities that we used to do as children… hopscotch …and elastics.″ [PP 2]

2

″It^′s making sure he^′s outside and, if you need to go to the shops, go there, do what you have to do and get home and get him outside again.″ [NP 7]

2

″We take them to the beach swimming quite regularly…if it^′s cold we still go, they still have fun with the sand.″ [PP 1]

″I think it^′s pretty important that they have lots of outside time.″ [NP 8]

7

6

5

″With paedophilia and people perving at your child and taking photos and abducting them in the street, or a car might hit them or anything. Like it^′s not safe even having your child on your own front lawn unsupervised; you don^′t know who^′s lurking around.″ [NP 3]

2

″They [bike ride]… around the block basically. Now I live on a lane, and I am that scared of what can happen, aside from injuries. So I … watch them. But I am so scared to let them go anywhere else.″[PP 2]

″I live across the road from the park and I think about that now. It^′s a busy road. Would I ever let her cross?″ [NP 6]

″In daylight saving we used to ride our bike around the street at night. Our parents were just inside. See you wouldn^′t let your children do any of these things.″ [PP 9]

″He^′s not allowed to play near a creek. There^′s places he won^′t be able to go.″ [NP 7]

4

″I walked to school every day by myself from a very young age. And these days… I live in a street with a school in it and no one walks past my fence in the morning or the afternoon. There is not one kid who walks to school even with their parents.″ [NP 6]

1

″Now everything^′s a lot more structured. Like you^′ve got to enrol them in this, that and the other. Whereas we did a lot more just local…friends and out in the street, bikes and skateboards, and all that sort of stuff.″ [PP 7]

″With the influence of today^′s culture. Just look at all the electronic gadgets and computers and play stations and all of that. Back in our day I remember you were outside on your bike, playing hopscotch, going to the park by yourself. All of that is slowly sort of gone.″[NP 6]

″I know society^′s changing. When we were young kids were out in the street all day everyday …but now you just don^′t see that.″ [NP 3]

″Living arrangements [influence physical activity] as well. We don^′t have a huge backyard and they^′re things that I^′m looking for now.″ [NP 5]

1

″With both parents back at work and the child^′s in childcare, there^′s such a limited amount of time as a family. Finding regular time for any sort of team sport and playing, I think that^′s really hard.″ [NP 8]

4

″Everything^′s time consuming. I find myself clock watching all the time because I have a very structured routine with them.″[PP 1]

″It^′s scheduling it [physical activity]. It^′s making sure that it fits in with everything else, because like I said they^′ve got homework every night, so it^′s all happening.″ [PP 2]

″We^′ll probably start that [organised sport] in the New Year. Anywhere I can take… two at the same time. It^′s just better value for your time you know, if [child 1] and [child 2] can both do a lesson. Like we do swimming. They have back to back lessons.″ [PP 6]