evidence now shows that the key drivers of poor health are social factors, such as education, employment, housing and urban environments. variations in these social factors—or the conditions in which we live our lives—have lead to a growth in health inequalities within and between countries. one of the key challenges facing those concerned with health equity is how to effect change across the b...

Written by a group of political science researchers, this commentary focuses on the contributions of political science to public health and proposes research avenues to increase those contributions. Despite progress, the links between researchers from these two fields develop only slowly. Divergences between the approach of political science to public policy and the expectations that public hea...

The introduction of the notion of 'Healthy Public Policy' in the Ottawa Charter is considered a relevant response to the emerging social-political context of the 1970s and 1980s. It also remains an important, yet volatile, argument for the consideration of policy impact on health. In our analysis, however, those that continued to argue for Healthy Public Policies and those who should develop th...

Health has moved up on the political agendas of most governments around the globe. The interdependence of economic, environmental and social conditions and health is increasingly understood. In turn, the experiences in health promotion with building healthy public policies become more important. Future "health in all policies" efforts, however, need to consider changing political contexts. Ther...

An active area of public health policy in the United States is policy meant to promote healthy eating, reduce overconsumption of food, and prevent overweight/obesity. Public discussion of such obesity prevention policies includes intense ethical disagreement. We suggest that some ethical disagreements about obesity prevention policies can be seen as rooted in a common concern with equality or w...

Evidence now shows that the key drivers of poor health are social factors, such as education, employment, housing and urban environments. Variations in these social factors—or the conditions in which we live our lives—have lead to a growth in health inequalities within and between countries. One of the key challenges facing those concerned with health equity is how to effect change across the b...

Healthy public policy plays an essential role in a comprehensive public health approach to preventing cancer and chronic disease. Public policies spread through the 'policy diffusion' process, enabling governments to learn from another's enacted policy solutions. The Prevention Policies Directory (the Directory), an online database of municipal, provincial/territorial, and federal cancer and ch...