Introduction

Technology development and United Kingdom (UK) Government policy has opened up the Internet to a wide audience of adolescent users.� Recent data from a longitudinal 'kids.net' survey shows that 75% (5.6 million) of 7-16 year olds in the UK are now Internet users¹.� It is not yet known whether young consumers will use the Internet to seek information about medicines and purchase them online.� The Internet has a synergistic relationship with other mass media, and websites promoted through popular youth media are likely to be visited by some Internet users².� The aim of this study was to describe the nature and distribution of information about health and medicines within websites promoted through popular UK youth magazines.

Method

The text content of one issue (over Feb-April 2001) of each of 25 popular UK youth magazines was searched for website citations.� Details of each citation were recorded on a SPSS for Windows database.� Each website was subsequently visited to determine whether any link to information about health or medicines was seen at that address.� If a link to health subject matter was identified, then further exploration of the text and/or links was employed to search for medicines information.

Results

There were 504 separate citations of 329 different Internet sites within the 25 magazine issues.� Only 38 of the 328 sites (11.6%) featured in the magazines contained health information, and 21 of these 38 sites (55.3%) contained information about medicines.� Information relating to contraceptives featured on a diverse range of sites, including product-related sites for sanitary products and a sexual health education site.� Thirteen of the 21 sites offered information about more than one therapeutic category of medicine; these included search engines and a site advertising the products of a herbal remedy manufacturer.� Three sites offered viewers the opportunity to buy medicines online through links to Internet pharmacies or herbalists in the UK and in the United States (US).

Conclusion

A diverse range of popular UK youth magazines contained over 500 website citations, but only 38 sites contained references to health information, and even less included information about medicines.� Online links to UK and US retailers provided adolescents with limited facility to purchase some conventional or complementary medicines.� Although the Internet is widely used by adolescents and an extensive range of goods and services are advertised directly to this age group, websites containing information about health and medicines are not as yet widely promoted in UK youth magazines.

References

1. NOP Family. Girls catch boys as three-quarters of kids use Internet.� 16 August 2001. [http://www.nop.co.uk/survey/internet/internet_item34.htm]

2. Havick J. The impact of the Internet on a television-based society. Technology in Society 2000; 22: 273-87.