Youth sport has been advocated as a vehicle through which more physically active lifestyles can be encouraged among children and adolescents. Employing objective assessments of physical activity (PA), the purpose of this thesis was to investigate the value of youth sport as a context for PA promotion and obesity prevention. Results from Study 1 indicated 37% of youth sport football participants did not meet recommended levels of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) during their youth sport engagement. Study 2 demonstrated negative associations between daily PA levels of grassroots footballers and obesity linked health outcomes, with the reverse true for sedentary time (ST). Guided by self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1987), findings from Studies 3 and 4 revealed perceptions of coach provided autonomy support were positively associated with sport related autonomous motivation, and in turn, higher MVPA participation (daily MVPA as well as PA accrued during youth sport) and lower ST. This thesis underlines the value of youth sport as a setting through which levels of PA can be increased, and ST reduced among youth. Research described within also points to the important role of the coach-created environment and player motivation in predicting variability in PA engagement and ST among young grassroots footballers.
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