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Journal of Child Health Care
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Public health nurses' approaches to early childhood physical activity in Finland

Tarja Javanainen-Levonen, MSc, PhLic

Faculty of Social Services and Health Care, Satakunta University of Applied Sciences, Pori, Finland, tarja.javanainen-levonen{at}samk.fi

Marita Poskiparta, MEd, PhD

Department of Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

Pauli Rintala, PhD

Department of Sport Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

Pekka Satomaa, MD

Municipal Health Services, City of Pori, Finland

This study was conducted using five focus groups with 24 public health nurses from regional child health clinics in order to explore health professionals' perceptions concerning physical activity. Participants were professionally experienced (mean 13.9 years), female (mean 46.2 years) nurses with some training in health-enhancing physical activity. Frame analysis of verbatim transcripts resulted in four frames: the environmental frame, the family frame, the natural frame and the wellbeing and health frame. The importance of physical and social environment, especially the role of parents, was highlighted as determinants of physical activity. Furthermore, the natural characteristics of physical activity in early childhood and the benefits of physical activity for wellbeing and health were focused on within these frames. According to the findings, the sample of Finnish nurses approached physical activity multidimensionally. Further research is warranted to ascertain how these approaches come true in health care settings in Finland as well as elsewhere.

Key Words: attitudes • early childhood • focus groups • physical activity • public health nurse

Journal of Child Health Care, Vol. 13, No. 1, 30-45 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1367493508098379
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