Impact of Mass Media on Adolescent Health: ''the Dark Side''

The period of transition from childhood to adulthood is called Adolescent with accelerated physical, biochemical and emotional development. It is a unique period of dynamic change which may be referred to as “Growing up”. Adolescence is the time period that begins with the onset of puberty and lasts nearly a decade i.e., from the age of 12-13 to around 20 years of age. It is a period of rapid growth and maturation in human development. It is this period that the final growth spurt occurs. If the growth of a teenager is not as good as it should be, it is going to affect his/her future health as an adult. Now HEALTH according to WHO “is a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing and not merely an absence of disease or infirmity.” Nevertheless, adolescents and young adults engage in a range of behaviors that can affect the quality of their health and the probability of their survival in the short terms as well as affect their lifetime health and survival. If we look only at disability-adjusted life years for the adolescent age group, adolescents appear to be relatively healthy. Nonetheless, more than 33% of the disease burden and almost 60% of premature deaths among adults can be associated with behaviors or conditions that began or occurred during adolescence—for example, tobacco and alcohol use, poor eating habits, sexual abuse, and risky sex (WHO 2002).
Mass media (television, radio, magazines, newspaper, pamphlets, internet etc.) plays a paramount role in today’s society. Mass media are tools for the transfer of information, concepts, and ideas to both general and specific audiences. Communicating about health through mass media is complex, however, and challenges professionals in diverse disciplines. Mass media caters to a diverse audience, ranging from children, to adolescents, to adults. Amongst said audiences, “Adolescents are vigorous users of the information broadcasted in media” (Werner-Wilson, Morrissey & Fitzharris, 2004). Because this