Table 4 Quotes about factors of grandparents’ physical activity and sedentary behavior on the personal (situational) level

Planning and location

Quote 6 (Grandparent 37, ♂, 57 years): “We do notice that we’re much more active when the grandchildren are here. There’s a recreational area close to us, so we take them to the playground more often and then we go for a walk and sail a boat and so on. I’m not saying that we’re not active when they’re not here, but we’re less active. We do go cycling once in a while, we go for a walk once in a while, but when the grandchildren are here, we make sure that we always do some activities.”

Awareness of time

Quote 7 (Grandparent 29, ♀, 54 years): “Once in a while, the grandchildren ask me if we’re going to watch to a fairy tale on TV, and because of that I forget the time and only after a while I notice that we’ve been sitting there for a long time.”

Time availability

Quote 8 (Grandparent 36, ♀, 57 years): “The time grandchildren spend with the grandparents also determines a lot of the activity. If they’re only there to sleep and eat a bowl of fruit, but then go back home, you can’t go for a big walk or a trip to the playground. But if grandchildren spend the whole day with you, then you can easily organize some outdoor physical activities.”