Citation

Hernán-García M, Botello-Díaz B, Marcos-Marcos J, Toro-Cárdenas S, Gil-García E. Int. J. Public Health 2015; 60(2): 239-247.

Affiliation

Andalusian School of Public Health, Granada, Spain, mariano.hernan.easp@juntadeandalucia.es.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00038-015-0648-0

PMID

25603983

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This research was designed to explore the opinions held by primary school pupils about the Internet as a source of assets for health and well-being.

METHODS: A qualitative study was carried out based on 8 focus groups comprising 64 pupils from 8 primary schools in Spain.

RESULTS: Our findings describe the Internet as a tool for learning, communication, fun and health care. In addition, they reveal how children understand influences on health and well-being in relation to their view of the Internet. The results are discussed in terms of the public-health implications of digital literacy, as well as its connection to well-being, especially in relation to health assets.

CONCLUSIONS: The Internet is an important resource for children's health and well-being, which, through learning, communication, fun and health care, encourages them to make use of it. Digital and health literacy constitutes the foundation required for browsing the Internet in a positive way, as identified by the children interviewed in this study, and especially in relation to the health assets that the Internet can contain.

Language: en