BodiMojo Blog

Sure, teens are surfing the Net for games and social networking. But where do they go for health information? Just like the aging baby boomers, half of young people ages 13-24 surveyed in a recent report are looking for health and wellness information online, according to Peanut Labs, YPulse, an online youth marketing company.

We at BodiMojo were thrilled, of course, but not really surprised. It makes sense that teens will use the Internet to seek out answers to hot button questions that they’d rather not discuss with adults — topics like sex, stds, or drugs and alcohol use. And googling for “Herpes” or “Pot” is more anonymous than calling a hotline.

Researchers also found that the most popular health site was Web MD, which, of course, comes up first or second in many health searches. No doubt mom or dad as well as grandma are also using this site—but you have to wonder what a typical teen’s reaction is when looking at a health site that is more geared to adults. Do they self-diagnose, and spin in a storm of anxiety?

We were left wondering some other questions: Were the kids satisfied with the health information? Could they discern high quality information from low quality?  What did they do with the information?  Did it lead them to take some sort of action? Seek real-world interaction? Did they e-mail the article to a friend? Or talk to an adult?

The study also found that teens are using message boards and online confessionals to receive personal advice.  No surprise there, either.  We trust people we can relate to the most—and in the case of teens, this is their peers, of course.  This leaves open the question of how much misinformation is passed along.  No doubt teens will communicate about what’s most important to them – the nitty gritty and all.  So let’s provide what seems to matter:  Ways for teens to connect around concerns in a cool environment—with accurate health information relevant to teen life.

 - Contributed by Tara Cousineau, PhD, An Adolescent at Heart