Together with Dipl.-Psych. Christa Gebel, Dr Claudia Lampert edited issue 2022/01 of the journal merz | medien + erziehung on “Media and Health”.
Claudia Lampert’s article “Digitale Gesundheitspraktiken von Kindern und Jugendlichen. Mehrwert oder Risiko? [Digital Health Practices of Children and Young People. Added Value or Risk?]” has also been published in this issue.
About the issue
So far, the topic of health has received little attention in the context of general media use by children and young people. Yet young people also turn to the media to deal with questions of their physical and mental development. In light of new technologies, such as health apps and wearables that collect health-related data, other questions also arise. Probably no generation before has been so intensively engaged with different diets, fitness programmes and ways of self-optimisation. However, some studies also point out that this development can increase feelings of stress, which can result from the perceived pressure to optimise oneself or the feeling of not wanting to miss anything.
The issue of merz first shows the diversity of the thematic field ‘media and health’ as well as research needs, but above all also identifies the media-pedagogical interfaces. What do we know about the various digital health practices of adolescents? What health-related offers and information do young people find in social media? What characterises healthy media use? Which practical media education projects deal with health aspects of media use or aim at a healthy use of media?