I received a couple of requests to define "public health" last week from readers Anthro and MA. As MA puts it,

Maybe ... we need a definition of "public health." I view my health as a private matter, my food choices as a private matter, and an expression of my freedom. To me, public health is not an individual concern, it's a corporate (group) concern—government, schools, companies, farms, etc. Public health includes things like properly working sewer systems, sanitation, water quality, and air quality. Marion—can we get a definition of 'public health' from you, as Anthro suggested?

My definition of public health isn't much different from mainstream definitions. But to me, public health is a critically important expression of democracy, and the antithesis of a "corporate" concern. Public health approaches promote good health for everyone, not just those who can afford it or are educated enough to make appropriate choices.

Corby Kummer: "Calorie Labels I"
Corby Kummer: "Calorie Labels II"




Other food examples: milk pasteurization, banning of trans fats, food labeling.


Preventing obesity is another example: we could, as a society, take measures to make it easier for people to eat more healthfully and be more active (public health) or leave it up to individuals to do this for themselves (personal responsibility). Many of the arguments about suggested public health measures to prevent obesity are about how best to balance society's needs with individual rights. But as I see it, the proposals aim to tweak societal choices that have already been made: which crops receive farm subsidies, for example.

An exceptionally clear example is how to avoid toxic levels of methylmercury in fish. We can teach pregnant women to recognize which fish are high in methylmercury and hope this works well enough so they will avoid buying such fish (personal responsibility) or we could—as a society—require coal-burning power plants to scrub their emissions so mercury doesn't get into ocean or lake waters in the first place (public health).


Because public health applies to everyone, it is essentially democratic. And that's one of the reasons why I think it matters so much.