QR codes help promote fitness among high school students

Mobike qr codes bicycle

A new program featuring quick response codes is designed to encourage the youth at Mount Stromlo High School.

Students at Mount Stromlo High School in Australia are now taking part in a program that uses QR codes to help to encourage them to take on a larger amount of physical activity in their daily lives.

This is a novel way to use quick response codes, which are traditionally seen in print advertising.

At the school, around 70 students have been walking or riding their bikes to school in order to give themselves the opportunity to spot one of several QR codes that have been posted along the way. They are located virtually anywhere within sight of the students as they make their way to their classes every day. They might find them on an underpass wall or roof, or somewhere else that can be scanned using mobile devices.

When the QR codes are scanned, the students gain points that they can collect in order to earn raffle tickets.

qr codes bicycleThis program using quick response codes is a component of the It’s Your Move program that has been launched by ACT Health. That organization has given a $10,000 grant to Canberra, Australia schools in order to discover creative new ways to improve the health of their student bodies.

This is in response to a large and growing health epidemic within Canberra. There, approximately two in every three adults is either overweight or obese. Similarly, approximately one in every four children is overweight or obese.

The QR codes were Mount Stromlo High School’s creative way for using their grant money. The raffles have been designed to be appealing enough to encourage students to get out and moving, even if they’re not typically active. For instance, Noah Budd, a year eight student, was the winner of the raffle this term, winning a $400 mountain bike. The effect on Budd was exactly what the program was hoping to achieve. Though he admitted that the reason he rode his old bike to school every day was so he could earn points for the raffle, he has now discovered that since it’s a part of his regular routine, it’s much easier to remain active every day.

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