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AbstractOrganized afterschool programs have received increased attention over the past two decades because of changes in family demographics and in society's structures for supervising and socializing youth. The number of afterschool programs has been rapidly expanding to meet the increased need. However, not all youth in need are being reached, and the programs that are being created are loosely connected. The authors present several advantages of more fully integrating sport and afterschool activities. There are well‐documented positive effects of physical activity and sports participation on physical and psychosocial youth outcomes, especially if those programs are implemented with these points in mind. Promoting healthy lifestyles and preventing obesity are also important federal‐ and state‐level policy priorities. Finally, physical activity and fitness and sport participation are linked with improved cognitive functioning and greater academic achievement, two desired outcomes of many afterschool programs. The authors note, however, that many youth sports programs designed to enhance positive youth development will not succeed without more attention focused on improving them, because they do not use best practices and principles of afterschool and youth sports programs. The authors focus on best practice ideas in four areas that are essential to the successful intersection of youth sport and afterschool programming: setting a clear mission, programming with appropriate content, staff training, and research and evaluation or frequent assessments. They illustrate best practices in each of these areas using program descriptions and provide recommendations for strengthening the connections among afterschool programs, sports, and physical activity.

Background: Ecological models are currently the most used approaches to classify and conceptualise determinants of sedentary behaviour, but these approaches are limited in their ability to capture the complexity of and interplay between determinants. The aim of the project described here was to develop a transdisciplinary dynamic framework, grounded in a system-based approach, for research on determinants of sedentary behaviour across the life span and intervention and policy planning and evaluation. Methods: A comprehensive concept mapping approach was used to develop the Systems Of Sedentary behaviours (SOS) framework, involving four main phases: (1) preparation, (2) generation of statements, (3) structuring (sorting and ranking), and (4) analysis and interpretation. The first two phases were undertaken between December 2013 and February 2015 by the DEDIPAC KH team (DEterminants of DIet and Physical Activity Knowledge Hub). The last two phases were completed during a two-day consensus meeting in June 2015. Results: During the first phase, 550 factors regarding sedentary behaviour were listed across three age groups (i.e., youths, adults and older adults), which were reduced to a final list of 190 life course factors in phase 2 used during the consensus meeting. In total, 69 international delegates, seven invited experts and one concept mapping consultant attended the consensus meeting. The final framework obtained during that meeting consisted of six clusters of determinants: Physical Health and Wellbeing (71 % consensus), Social and Cultural Context (59 % consensus), Built and Natural Environment (65 % consensus), Psychology and Behaviour (80 % consensus), Politics and Economics (78 % consensus), and Institutional and Home Settings (78 % consensus). Conducting studies on Institutional Settings was ranked as the first research priority. The view that this framework captures a system-based map of determinants of sedentary behaviour was expressed by 89 % of the participants. Conclusion: Through an international transdisciplinary consensus process, the SOS framework was developed for the determinants of sedentary behaviour through the life course. Investigating the influence of Institutional and Home Settings was deemed to be the most important area of research to focus on at present and potentially the most modifiable. The SOS framework can be used as an important tool to prioritise future research and to develop policies to reduce sedentary time.