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ADVOCACY

June 2003, Volume 8, Number 5

Putting media under the microscope:

Understanding and challenging media’s influence on the health and well-being of children and youth

Simon Davidson MB BCh FRCPC1, Arlette Lefebvre MD FRCPC DCP OOn CM2, Patricia Morris MD CCFPC3,

Peter Nieman MD FRCPC4, Catherine Swift BA5

Today’s parents, themselves raised on television, are now raising the Internet generation and it is clear that they are feeling blind-sided by some of the challenges of managing this new medium in the home (1). The new digital culture has come upon us all very suddenly, but unlike parents, Canadian children are virtual trailblazers in the technology revolution. Eighty per cent of Canadian children have Internet access at home and almost 50% are online for at least 1 h every day, most with no adult supervision or basic household rules regarding Internet use (2).

A lot has been written about the influence of media, particularly television, on the psychosocial development and physical well being of children and youth, for good reason. Everyday, Canadian children and youth are exposed to messages from a host of media including television, movies, magazines, the Internet, video games, music and music videos, and all forms of advertising. While the media offer young people many opportunities to learn and be entertained, how young people interpret media images and messages can be a contributing factor to a number of public health concerns (3-6).

These key areas of concern include: sedentary lifestyle, poor nutrition and obesity; unhealthy body image, dieting and eating disorders; aggressive behaviour, fear and desensitization to violence; substance use and abuse; and risky sexual behaviour.

Canadian children (aged two to 11) average 14.2 h per week watching television and adolescents (aged 12 to 17 years) spend an average of 13.1 h per week watching television (7). While these latest survey data indicate that children and youth are watching less television than they did a decade ago, pollsters and youth marketers contend that kids are simply spending more time on other screens, be it a computer screen, a video game console or a cellphone screen.

As socially conscious child and youth health professionals acting in the best interests of our patients, we must be aware of the ubiquitous and influential presence of media in our patients’ lives. Moreover, we must inform and educate both our young patients and their parents about the potential health effects of the media and challenge them to be media savvy. While children may see setting limits and establishing rules about media consumption as denying them fun, it is part of good parenting, just as tuning into our patients’ media habits is good paediatric practice. Physicians can change and improve media habits (8).

Childhood obesity in Canada has reached crisis proportions. Thirty five per cent of Canadian children are overweight and obese (9). Most food advertising during children’s programming is for fast food, soft drinks, candy and presweetened cereals (10), and often promotes larger portions (11). Prolonged screen time contributes to a sedentary lifestyle and the problem is only exacerbated by eating in front of the television or computer, a habit known to dull the normal satiety response (12).

Youth rank media as one of their leading sources of information on sex and sexuality (13), yet the media often portrays sexual behaviours without the known consequences of unintended pregnancy, human immunodeficiency virus or other sexually transmitted infections. Health professionals need to inform their young patients of potential health risks and encourage them to identify inappropriate sexual images and messages in the media.

By asking the right questions, highlighting the discrepancies between reality and media images and messages, educating young patients and their parents about the media’s influence on health, and referring patients to good media resources, physicians can make an enormous difference.

• Read Media Pulse: Measuring the Media in Kids’ Lives, included with this issue of Paediatrics & Child Health, and share it with your colleagues.

• Talk to your patients and colleagues about the influence of media on the health and lifestyle choices of children and youth.

• Adopt the media history form included in Media Pulse in your practice or select key questions as part of a routine medical history.

• Refer your patients to the Media Awareness Network for excellent parent resources on managing media in the home.

• Advocate media literacy with patients and colleagues, and at the national level.

Just a few minutes of each patient interview can make a big difference. More information about the media’s influence on the health and well-being of young people, together with strategies for managing media in the home, can be found at the Media Awareness Network’s Web site (www.media-awareness.ca).

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