Tucker et al. BMC Public Health 2011, 11:168 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/11/168 review of 39 international studies, Tucker reported that 54% of preschoolers engaged in 60 minutes of physical activity per day [9]. If “sufficient physical activity” was defined as aligning with the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) Guideline (which recommends 60 minutes of structured and a minimum of 60 minutes of unstructured daily physical activity for the preschooler cohort), only 23% would have engaged in appropriate amounts of activity [9]. It is clear that many Canadian and international preschoolers are not enga- ging in appropriate amounts of physical activity. Given that activity levels have been found to decline with age [10], and that the preschool years may be a transitional time for children moving from childcare to the school system, it is imperative that physical activity be encour- aged and active lifestyles fostered among this young population. Children’s health behaviours are formed at an early age [11,12], and many of these behaviours are largely under the influence of their parents. In fact, the family unit is particularly important for the development of young children’s activity-related attitudes, beliefs, prefer- ences, and behaviours [13,14]. In addition to parental control over children’s behaviours, Sallis and colleagues purported that family-related variables correlate strongly with children’s physical activity habits [15]. Specifically, physical activity participation among preschool-aged children is strongly associated with parental physical activity behaviours and prompts from adults [15-18]. Moreover, the home environment itself (e.g., rules regarding activity, accessibility of play spaces, etc.) has also been acknowledged as impacting physical activity participation among young children, accounting for 16% of the variance in physical activity levels[18]. Therefore, parental role modeling and the home environment are important influences on the physical activity behaviours of preschool-aged children. The present study took place within the context of a lar- ger program of research. The goal of this research pro- gram was to gain an understanding of childcare providers’ perspectives of: preschoolers’ current physical activity behaviours; the barriers and facilitators to physical activity participation at childcare facilities; and suggestions for improving physical activity opportunities in childcare cen- tres [19,20]. This research was undertaken because of the strong emphasis and increased attention placed on the childcare setting as an important venue for supporting physical activity participation among children [21,22]. Despite the strong research focus on physical activity par- ticipation within the childcare setting, childcare providers emphasized the influence that parents and the child’s home environment has on the physical activity behaviours of preschoolers attending childcare. These insightful and relatively under-examined issues (related to the role of Page 2 of 7 parents and the home environment on preschooler’s phy- sical activity) represent the focus of this current paper. Parents of preschoolers have previously acknowledged their dependence on childcare staff to ensure their chil- dren are sufficiently active [23,24]; however, the perspec- tives of childcare staff with regard to the role of parents in increasing children’s physical activity has not been examined. An understanding and acknowledgement of childcare providers’ expectations and perceptions is important for caregivers and health professionals given the substantial amount of time children spend in daycare and the pivotal role childcare providers play in shaping preschooler’s behaviour. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine childcare providers’ perspectives of the importance of parents and the home environment for supporting physical activity behaviours of preschool-aged children (aged 2.5-5 years) attending childcare. Methods Recruitment In total, 13 semi-structured focus groups were conducted at public childcare centres in London, Ontario (from diverse areas of the city) between February 2009 and February 2010 to address the purposes of the larger study. The first eight focus groups were conducted between February and March 2009 with providers from one public childcare organization. An additional five focus groups were conducted after an Advocacy Development Grant from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario was awarded to expand the study. These focus groups were undertaken in January and February of 2010 with childcare providers from an additional two public childcare organi- zations. Participating childcare staff were drawn from three organizations that ranged in the number of facilities within the city (i.e., 1, 12, and 13 centres across London). The additional focus groups provided a more in-depth understanding of the importance childcare providers placed on the home environment and the parent as an equal partner for supporting and encouraging physical activity participation among preschoolers. This theme was also discussed in the first round of focus groups, but was not captured in the previously published articles [19,20]. Participants A total of 84 childcare providers (mean age = 33 years; 99% female; mean length of experience = 9 years) from 16 childcare centres in London, Ontario participated in this study. Eighty-one percent of participants indicated that they were full-time childcare providers, and the remaining 19% indicated that they were either part-time or casual (e.g., occasional employment) childcare provi- ders. The majority of participants (79%) had a college education, and an additional 13% had either a university or post-graduate degree. While the ethnicity of the