Long-Term Relationships between SFD Program Engagement, Physical Literacy, and Physical Activity Levels among Urban Youth Aged 6 - 12 Facing Barriers to Positive Development

This study explored sport and physical activity-related outcomes associated with participation in intentionally designed youth Sport For Development programming and tested the hypothesis that program participation would be associated with significant increases in physical activity and physical literacy over a two-year period among youth aged 6 - 12 who faced barriers to positive development. 93 youth were recruited from registered Sport For Development programs and participated in this repeated-measures quasi-experimental study. Our findings suggest that intentionally designed and strategically resourced youth SFD programming is associated with significant increases in physical activity and physical literacy (F (2, 133) = 5.133, p iod, with comparable increases across demographic groups and the most growth observed from baseline to 6 months. These are novel findings in the Sport for Development literature, which has primarily focused on social and affective youth outcomes. A rich and detailed description of the intervention and discussion of programmatic and non-programmatic factors and temporal and equity considerations impacting outcomes offer transferable insights for sport practitioners and researchers.