Table 5 Quotes about factors of grandparents’ physical activity and sedentary behavior on the personal (psychological) level

Health consciousness

Quote 9 (Grandparent 31, ♀, 58 years): “When providing grandchild care, the grandchildren can paint, they can do gymnastics, they can go on the trampoline, we go outside—which depends on the weather—but I try to fill those days with as much activity as possible.”

Quote 10 (Grandparent 31, ♀, 58 years): “When the grandchildren are with us, we want them to do other things than spend a whole afternoon watching TV, because we already have the idea that this happens a lot at home.”

Perception of educational value

Quote 11 (Grandparent 20, ♀, 61 years): “Around 1 o'clock there’s a television show, showing live animals, such as giraffes, lions and other wildlife. The grandchildren like to watch this. Afterwards, we look for the same animals in the books again. Those are quite educational moments actually.”

Enjoyment of the grandparent

Quote 12 (Grandparent 23, ♀, 61 years): “We go to the library together, we have a stack of 10 books and my grandson can easily sit and read books for half an hour, and then I have to read along. For me, those are real moments of rest, so he talks and reads along, and I find that delightful. Then you notice that the child also enjoys it. For me, that’s the moment that I’m really sedentary.”

Habits

Quote 13 (Grandparent 18, ♀, 62 years): “When my granddaughter is here and she stays overnight and she’s up early in the morning, I insist to read my newspaper for half an hour or three quarters of an hour and then she has to read a book or color or do something else.”

Grandparental perceptions and responsibilities

Quote 14 (Grandparent 30, ♂, 69 years): “When I’m with the grandchildren, we’re always physically active together. So you’re never sedentary when you’re with your grandchildren. In the playground, we play games and then our imaginations run wild and then we do all kinds of games. I’m not going to sit there on a bench and let them play. No, they always want their grandfather to be there and play with them. I don’t see many occasions where I’m not active when they are. We were doing everything together.”

Quote 15 (Grandparent 25, ♀, 59 years): “Actually, I’m always active with the grandchildren. Even when we go to the playground, my grandson always wants me to play along with him and get involved in his fantasy game. Or we’re not active together, by just playing a board game. He actually always wants to play together.”