The GPS (Global Positioning System) Nutritional Drawing Courses; Promoting Physical Activity and Good Nutrition through Popular Technology

Abstract

Physical activity and good nutrition are key factors in leading a healthy lifestyle. The goal of the project is to promote physical activity and enhance nutritional knowledge of youth through utilizing the capabilities of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. Many GPS devices offer a ‘track’ feature, which allows a user to record his/her itinerant path. First, we determined a location of a GPS Drawing Course using Google Maps. We used GPS Map 60 (Garmin International, Inc., Olathe, KS) and walked the potential courses. The GPS Map 60 served for drawing and downloading an accurate GPS Drawing Course. Some of the GPS Drawing Courses consisted of images of foods, carrot, pineapple, fish, or series of letters with slogan, such as 5‐A‐Day, Fish‐A‐Day. We also designed GPS Drawing Fat‐Soluble Vitamin Course which featured an image of carrot surrounded by A, D, E, and K, the letters of the fat soluble vitamins. Four women and one man were asked to walk Fat‐Soluble Vitamin Course carrying a GPS Map 60 and an Omron HJ‐720‐ITC pedometer (Kyoto, Japan). Their average number of steps was 2,929 and average time needed for completing the course was 30.5 minutes. Average GPS drawing length was 1.2 miles. We made an instructional pamphlet explaining a stepwise method of designing GPS Nutritional Drawing Courses. This may serve as a creative outlet for youth, becoming aware of healthy diet while they are physically active and having fun.