Adolescents Seeking Nutrition Information: Motivations, Sources and the Role of the Internet

Much research exploring the potential of the internet for providing effective nutrition information to adolescents focuses on the design of websites and uses of the internet. This study takes a step back to investigate the specific reasons adolescents do and do not use the internet to learn about nutrition. This paper asks, “What motivates adolescents to select the internet when learning about nutrition?” Using in-depth interviews and a survey, two stages of the information-seeking process are examined: initiation and selection. Results reveal that because school classes are serving as a primary entry point for learning about this topic, even personal nutrition needs are often conceptualized as formal and education-related. The internet is less appealing than books and teachers for fulfilling those needs because adolescents primarily use it for social, not formal tasks. The paper concludes that educators should incorporate more directed use of the internet into nutrition classes and assignments. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-2017-9.ch010