Objectives: To understand parents' perspectives of their preschoolers' physical activity behaviours. Methods:A maximum variation sample of 71 parents explored their preschoolers' physical activity behaviours through 10 semi-structured focus group discussions.Results: Parents perceived Canada's Physical Activity Guidelines for Children as inadequate; that their preschoolers get and need more than 30-90 minutes of activity daily; and that physical activity habits must be established during the preschool years. Nine barriers against and facilitators toward adequate physical activity were proposed: child's age, weather, daycare, siblings, finances, time, society and safety, parents' impact, and child's activity preferences. Discussion:The need for education and interventions that address current barriers are essential for establishing physical activity as a lifestyle behaviour during early childhood and, consequently, helping to prevent both childhood and adulthood obesity.

Background-Childhood obesity has emerged as a public health concern in Canada. It has been suggested that excessive screen viewing (i.e., television, computer, video) is a major factor contributing to the increased risk of obesity in children. Exploring young children's experiences with this modifiable behavior may be beneficial to the creation of a multifaceted program aimed at the primary prevention of obesity.

Childhood obesity is on the rise, and interventions targeted at pre-school-aged children are essential for the primary prevention of this disease. Physical activity programming and decreasing screen viewing may be advantageous ways to reduce the early onset of obesity. Parents' perceptions regarding effective tools and programmes to target obesity are needed to develop an efficacious programme. Ten semi-structured focus groups were conducted for this qualitative study. Two experienced moderators facilitated all focus groups which were conducted in local day cares, workplaces and play groups, frequented by parents. All focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Strategies to ensure trustworthiness of the data were employed. A heterogeneous sample of 71 parents were asked about their pre-schoolers' physical activity levels and screen viewing behaviours, in addition to their suggestions for programmes to facilitate the development of healthy habits. Parents agreed that physical activity programming was an ideal way to combat obesity in pre-schoolers. Programming suggestions included involving parents in the programme planning and operation, increasing accessibility to programmes, providing more facilities, better promotional strategies such as the use of a television commercial, and resources/ideas to engage children in the home. Parents' programming suggestions lacked discussion around addressing screen viewing as a viable way to attend to the current obesity epidemic. Parents must be made aware of programmes and resources currently available. Modifying current programmes' scheduling to include morning and afternoon sessions, and arranging for physicians to hand out resources with physical activity ideas, particularly during the winter months, is essential.

Purpose-Preschoolers' dietary intake behaviours are described from the perspective of their parents.Methods-A maximum variation sample of 71 parents of preschoolers participated in this qualitative study. Ten semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted. Two experienced moderators facilitated all focus groups, which were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Strategies to ensure trustworthiness of the data were employed throughout the study. Two team members independently performed inductive content analysis. NVivo software was used to code the emerging themes.Results-Parents identified food and food issues as key health-related behaviours among preschoolers. Parents discussed challenges to healthy eating, including time limitations and societal pressures, as well as methods for facilitating healthy food choices, including bribery, education, and being creative with food.

We describe two new species of Diosaccidae (Copepoda, Harpacticoida) from an unvegetated sand at 18 m depth in the northern Gulf of Mexico. One is assigned to the genus Protopsammotopa;