Abstract
Objective
To evaluate whether children could find the correct answers to obesity-related health
questions on the Internet and observe the search strategies children use when searching
for such information.
Methods
Twenty-five parent-child dyads, from a southwestern US summer day camp, participated
in this cross-sectional study. Parents’ health literacy skills were evaluated. Children
searched the Internet for 6 questions related to nutrition and physical activity.
Search activities were recorded via Camtasia. Quantitative (ie, time spent per question)
and qualitative data (ie, themes related to difficulties searching) were extracted
by rewatching the recordings.
Results
All parents had either proficient or basic levels of health literacy. The question
that had the highest rating for being correctly answered pertained to physical activity
recommendations, whereas none of the children were able to find recommended servings
of food groups.
Conclusions and Implications
Children were not successful in finding correct answers to most of the questions and
used ineffective search strategies. Interventions that teach children effective search
strategies for health information are needed.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
February 5,
2020
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: The authors have not stated any conflicts of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
