Study finds Internet health info too tough for most parents to read

A University of Iowa study finds most information on the Internet about children’s health care is too hard for many adults to understand.The study found most websites on kids’ health are written at a 12th-grade level, while the typical American adult reads at an 8th or 9th-grade level. U-of-I pediatrics professor Donna D’Alessandro says website writers need to change their ways.D’Alessandro says the issue has significant implications for children’s health care since adults are the people doctors most need to educate about how to help their children stay healthy. She says while many adults in the U-S are high school graduates, they don’t read at the 12th-grade level or high school graduate level.D’Alessandro says medical jargon is unnecessary on health websites that are supposed to be for the general public. Words like “venapuncture” could easily be substituted with “draw blood” while “curving of the spine” could replace “scoliosis.”