2134/21914
Annaleise Depper
Annaleise
Depper
David Howe
David
Howe
Are we fit yet? English adolescent girls’ experiences of health and fitness apps
Loughborough University
2016
Adolescent girls
Apps
Body
Digital health
Self-tracking
Surveillance
Medical and Health Sciences not elsewhere classified
Sociology
2016-07-06 11:06:56
Journal contribution
https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/Are_we_fit_yet_English_adolescent_girls_experiences_of_health_and_fitness_apps/9621701
In recent years, society has witnessed a proliferation of digital technologies facilitate new ways to monitor young people’s health. This paper explores a group of English adolescent girls’ understandings of ‘health’ promoted by health and fitness related technologies. Five focus group meetings with the same 8 girls, aged between 14 and 17, were conducted to explore their experiences of using health and fitness apps. The girls’ understandings of the digitised body are examined through a Foucauldian lens, with particular attention to conceptualisations of bio-power and technologies of the self. The data reveal how the girls negotiated, and at times critiqued, the multiple health discourses that are manifest through digital health technologies and performative health culture. The results emphasise that individual-based applications (apps) remove the social and interactive elements of physical activity valued by the girls. This research highlights the possibilities digital technologies provide for health promotion, yet also illuminates the limitations of these technologies if used uncritically and inappropriately.