Can Turkish Families Use the Internet Effectively in Matters Related to Health while Raising Children?

Objective: the internet has become an important part of our lives in the field of health, as well as in many other areas. for this reason, in this study, it was aimed to evaluate the internet usage habits of the families about child rearing. method: this study was conducted between march 2017 and july 2017 using a questionnaire applied to parents with children under the age of 18 who applied to the pediatric outpatient clinic. results: the median age of the participants (n: 489) is 32 years. the families with children under 6 years old stated that they mostly (57.8%) searched the internet for information about growth and development, while the families with children between 6 and 12 years old and > 12 years old reported that they mostly searched the internet for information about school success (44.7% and 58.2%, respectively). of the participants, 87.5% reported that they searched the internet for information about their problems before taking their children to a healthcare center, and more than half (56.6%) stated that the knowledge they obtained from the internet was useless or they remained indecisive with regard to this issue. conclusion: it has been observed that families are unable to use the internet effectively, especially in health-related issues, which they encounter while raising their children. families should be informed about the benefits of the internet and encouraged when they receive health services.