title: Influencing factors of sedentary behavior in European preschool settings: an exploration through focus groups with teachers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sedentary behavior refers to activities involving sitting down and reclining (eg, watching TV, using the computer) and has been associated with different health outcomes. In preschool, children are sedentary for 50% to 80% of the time, in the classroom as well as during recess. Because of the absence of qualitative studies examining influencing factors of preschoolers' sedentary behavior in preschool settings, this study explored teachers' opinions on potentially influencing factors of this behavior.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-seven teachers of 4- to 6-year-old preschoolers from 6 European countries participated in a total of 18 focus groups between October 2010 and January 2011. Key findings were reported separately by country, and were independently analyzed by 2 researchers using qualitative content analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Teachers perceive the lack of play space and small classroom size as being influential factors on preschoolers' sedentary behavior; increasing play equipment and using teachers' prompts are mentioned as ways to stimulate children to be less sedentary on the playground. Computer use is reported to be more common in preschool than watching TV.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Interventions should focus on increasing teachers' awareness of how sedentary preschoolers are during the preschool day. Teachers also should be informed about strategies to decrease sedentariness in the classroom and on the playground.
authors.affiliation: Department of Movement and Sport Sciences, Ghent University, Watersportlaan 2, 9000 Gent, Belgium. ellen.dedecker@ugent.be
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Decker
authors.forename: Marieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Craemer
authors.forename: Ilse
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: De Bourdeaudhuij
authors.forename: Katrien
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wijndaele
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Duvinage
authors.forename: Odysseas
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Androutsos
authors.forename: Violeta
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Iotova
authors.forename: Mina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lateva
authors.forename: Juan Miguel Fernández
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Alvira
authors.forename: Kamila
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zych
authors.forename: Yannis
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Manios
authors.forename: Greet
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cardon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005060:Europe; D005178:Faculty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control; D012574:Schools / Q000458:organization & administration; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: TV viewing; computer use; preschoolers; qualitative research