title: Global positioning system: a new tool to measure the distribution of anemia and nutritional status of children (5-10 years) in a rural area in south India.
abstract: Global positioning system (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system that is of late being used in health care.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aims of the study were to describe the geographical distribution and assess the prevalence of anemia and malnutrition in children aged 5-10 years with GPS.
  
  
  METHODS
  This exploratory study was conducted over a period of 2 months in the rural field practice area of a medical college situated in Bangalore during June-July 2012. Children aged 5-10 years were the study subjects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  GPS was used for describing the geographical distribution of anemia and nutrition status on the Google earth map. The prevalence of anemia in the study subjects was 8.7%. The prevalence of underweight, stunting, thinness, and severe thinness among the study subjects was 52.8%, 28.5%, 23.5%, and 29.1%, respectively; however, overweight and obesity were observed only in 0.9% and 1.2% of the study subjects, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  GPS was easy to use and was able to demonstrate the actual distribution of morbidity at the household level in the rural area.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: N R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Ramesh Masthi
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Sathish Chandra
authors.forename: Malatesh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Undi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aravind
authors.forename: Yannick P
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Puthussery
mesh_terms: D000740:Anemia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*