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Parents' perception of stroller use in young children: a qualitative study
Catherine S Birken1,2,3,4, Bradley Lichtblau5, Talia Lenton-Brym6
1Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada. catherine.birken@sickkids.ca.
Insights
Most parents do not link stroller use to their child's physical activity. This study explored stroller use contexts and parental views on its impact on children's activity levels.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Childhood Physical Activity
- Parental Behavior
Background:
- Stroller use is widespread but its impact on children's physical activity is understudied.
- Concerns exist that strollers may decrease physical activity in young children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the context of stroller use in young children.
- To understand parents' perceptions of stroller use and its relationship with child physical activity.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative study involving 14 semi-structured interviews with parents of children aged 1-5 years.
- Thematic analysis was conducted on transcribed interviews by two independent reviewers.
- Participants were recruited from a primary-care research network in Toronto, Canada.
Main Results:
- Parents cited reasons for stroller use including transportation, storage, leisure, supervision, parent activity, and sleep.
- Factors influencing stroller use decisions included caregiver choice, convenience, timing, distance, family lifestyle, and child preference.
- Most parents did not perceive a link between stroller use and their child's physical activity levels.
Conclusions:
- Findings provide context for developing guidelines on stroller use and physical activity for young children.
- Highlights the need to address parental perceptions regarding stroller use and its potential impact on activity.
Background:
Despite their wide usage, it has recently been suggested that stroller use may reduce physical activity levels of young children. However, there have been no studies on stroller use as it relates to physical activity outcomes. The objectives of this study were to understand the context of stroller use for young children and parents' perceptions of the relationship between stroller use and their children's physical activity.
Methods:
Parents of children 1 to 5 years of age were recruited through two sites of TARGet Kids!, a primary-care, practice-based research network in Toronto, Canada. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim and two independent reviewers conducted thematic analysis. A number of strategies were employed to ensure the trustworthiness of the data.
Results:
Parents discussed reasons for stroller use (i.e., transportation; storage; leisure; supervision/confinement; parent physical activity; and sleep), factors that influence the decision to use a stroller (i.e., caregiver choice; convenience, timing, distance; family lifestyle; and child preference), and perceived impact of stroller use on physical activity (i.e., most parents did not recognize a connection between stroller use and physical activity).
Conclusion:
This study provides a context for researchers and policy makers to consider when developing stroller related physical activity guidelines for young children.
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