Limitations and Recommendations
A few limitations need to be considered when interpreting the results of this study. Study participants were a convenience sample of third graders from a single rural community in East Central Indiana. Thus, results may not generalize to youth in other communities, especially those in more urban settings. The time of year (early May) the study was conducted may have affected the results. While weather conditions were favorable for outside activities, the end of the school year anticipations may have influenced the ratings of the psychosocial variables. Future studies should investigate seasonal variations in PA patterns.
Another limitation was the variable of extracurricular PA participation. Participants reported whether or not they participated in FC and an organized PA outside of school. Since information on the length of time spent engaging in each activity was not measured and PA outside of organized programs was not considered, extracurricular PA participation may not be a clear representation of overall PA level. Future research should investigate children‟s total PA as this may be a better reflection of the PA behavior in this population.