The idea of media literacy prompts an increasingly divisive debate between educators
who wish to protect children from the commercialization of global markets and those
who challenge critical media studies as misguided, outdated, and ineffective. We
have provided a historical overview of changing conceptions of media literacy as
preparation and protection in market society, arguing that contemporary concerns
about children’s fast food marketing and sedentary lifestyles call for new approaches
to the education of citizen‐consumers in a risk society. Our case study demonstrates
that a media education programme can provide scaffolding for children’s critical
thinking about their sedentary lifestyles and media consumption.
