“…In turn, youth participation in organized OST activities such as sports, after-school community programs (YD programs), and extracurricular activities (school-based), has been linked with multiple indicators of positive functioning (e.g., Mahoney, Vandell, Simpkins, & Zarrett, 2009;Zarrett, Fay, Li, et al, 2009;Zarrett, Fay, Peltz, et al, 2007) including physical health (e.g., lower rates of obesity; Mahoney, Lord & Carryl, 2005a;Vandell, Pierce & Dadisman, et al, 2005). For example, Mahoney et al (2005a) tracked a sample of disadvantaged children over a 3 year period (ages 5 to 8 years old) and found that, after controlling for earlier measures of BMI and demographic factors, those who participated in after-school programs (ASPs) showed less marked increases in BMI and significantly lower rates of obesity than similar children who did not participate in ASPs.…”