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This book was commissioned by the Department of Ethics, Equity, Trade and Human Rights as part of the work undertaken by the Priority Public Health Conditions Knowledge Network of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health, in collaboration with 16 of the major public health programs of WHO: alcohol-related disorders, cardiovascular diseases, child health, diabetes, food safety, HIV/AIDS, maternal health, malaria, mental health, neglected tropical diseases, nutrition, oral health, sexual and reproductive health, tobacco and health, tuberculosis, and violence and injuries. In addition to this, through collaboration with the Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, and the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, 13 case studies were commissioned to examine the implementation challenges in addressing social determinants of health in low-and middle-income settings. The Priority Public Health Conditions Knowledge Network has analyzed the impact of social determinants on specific health conditions, identified possible entry-points, and explored possible interventions to improve health equity by addressing social determinants of health.

Meticulously researched and beautifully written, Fit to Be Citizens? demonstrates how both science and public health shaped the meaning of race in the early twentieth century. Through a careful examination of the experiences of Mexican, Japanese, and Chinese immigrants in Los Angeles, Natalia Molina illustrates the many ways local health officials used complexly constructed concerns about public health to demean, diminish, discipline, and ultimately define racial groups. She shows how the racialization of Mexican Americans was not simply a matter of legal exclusion or labor exploitation, but rather that scientific discourses and public health practices played a key role in assigning negative racial characteristics to the group. The book skillfully moves beyond the binary oppositions that usually structure works in ethnic studies by deploying comparative and relational approaches that reveal the racialization of Mexican Americans as intimately associated with the relative historical and social positions of Asian Americans, African Americans, and whites. Its rich archival grounding provides a valuable history of public health in Los Angeles, living conditions among Mexican immigrants, and the ways in which regional racial categories influence national laws and practices. Molina's compelling study advances our understanding of the complexity of racial politics, attesting that racism is not static and that different groups can occupy different places in the racial order at different times.

\"The WHO Handbook on Indoor Radon\" is a key product of the WHO International Radon Project, which was launched in 2005. The \"Handbook\" focuses on residential radon exposure from a public health point of view and provides detailed recommendations on reducing health risks from radon and sound policy options for preventing and mitigating radon exposure. The material in the \"Handbook\" reflects the epidemiological evidence that indoor radon exposure is responsible for a substantial number of lung cancers in the general population. The material is organized into six chapters, each introduced by key messages. Usually, technical terms are defined the first time they are used, and a glossary is also included. Information is provided on the selection of devices to measure radon levels and on procedures for the reliable measurement of these levels. Discussed also are control options for radon in new dwellings, radon reduction in existing dwellings as well as assessment of the costs and benefits of different radon prevention and remedial actions. Also covered are radon risk communication strategies and organization of national radon programs.This publication is intended for countries planning to develop their national radon programs or extend such activities, as well as for stakeholders involved in radon control such as the construction industry and building professionals.The overall goal of this \"Handbook\" is to provide an up-to-date overview of the major aspects of radon and health. It does not aim to replace existing radiation protection standards, rather it emphasizes issues relevant to the comprehensive planning, implementation and evaluation of national radon programs.

Background Social participation is a modifiable health determinant influenced by physical and social aspects of the environment. Little is known about aging women’s and men’s community activities and barriers according to region and population size. This study compared social participation, desire to participate more, and perceived barriers of aging women and men by Canadian region and population size. Methods A secondary analysis of the 2008–2009 cross-sectional Canadian Community Health Survey - Healthy Aging was done with 16,274 respondents aged 65+. Respondents were grouped into five regions [Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Prairies and British Columbia] and five population size groups [rural (< 1000 inhabitants); small urban (1000-29,999); medium urban (30,000-99,999); large urban (100,000-499,999); and metropolitan (≥500,000) areas]. Social participation was estimated by monthly frequencies of engagement in community activities. If they desired to participate more, respondents were asked to identify barriers to their participation from a list of 13 reasons. Results There were no differences in total social participation between regions but Prairies and Quebec respondents had the highest and lowest frequency, respectively, of activities with family and friends (5.4 and 4.3 activities/month; p  = 0.01). Medium urban centers had the highest participation and metropolises, the lowest (17.4 vs 14.3 activities/month; p  < 0.01). About one fourth of all respondents wanted to participate more, regardless of region or population size. Overall, women wanted to participate more than men (26.6 vs 20.7%; p  < 0.001), especially in Ontario (28.3 vs 21.1%; p  < 0.001) and British Columbia (30.1 vs 22.9%; p  < 0.001). Men in Quebec were less likely than men in other regions to report “personal responsibilities” as a barrier to participation ( p  < 0.001). Men were more likely than women to report being “too busy”, especially in rural areas (27.1 vs 6.5%; p  < 0.001). Rural women were more likely than rural men to be constrained by transportation problems (15.1 vs 1.2%, p  < 0.001). Unavailability of activities was more of a constraint in rural areas than metropolises (13.6 vs 6.0%, p  < 0.001). Conclusions Overall, there were no practical differences between women’s and men’s social participation. However, unavailability of activities and transportation problems suggest that local initiatives and further research on environmental characteristics are required to foster aging Canadians’ participation.

'Healing with Water' provides a medical and social history of English spas and hydropathic centres from 1840 to 1960. It investigates health practices and healing cultures at specialist inland resorts showing that water was used in varied therapeutic approaches by both orthodox and unorthodox practitioners.

Most oral conditions have a multifactorial etiology; that is, they are modulated by biological, social, economic, cultural, and environmental factors. A consistent body of evidence has demonstrated the great burden of dental caries and periodontal disease in individuals from low socioeconomic strata. Oral health habits and access to care are influenced by the social determinants of health. Hence, the delivery of health promotion strategies at the population level has shown a great impact on reducing the prevalence of oral diseases. More recently, a growing discussion about the relationship between the environment, climate change, and oral health has been set in place. Certainly, outlining plans to address oral health inequities is not an easy task. It will demand political will, comprehensive funding of health services, and initiatives to reduce inequalities. This paper sought to give a perspective about the role of social and physical environmental factors on oral health conditions while discussing how the manuscripts published in this Special Issue could increase our knowledge of the topic.

Concomitant with the ever-expanding use of electrical appliances and mobile communication systems, public and occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) in the extremely-low-frequency and radiofrequency range has become a widely debated environmental risk factor for health. Radiofrequency (RF) EMF and extremely-low-frequency (ELF) MF have been classified as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), potentially leading to cellular or systemic oxidative stress, was frequently found to be influenced by EMF exposure in animals and cells. In this review, we summarize key experimental findings on oxidative stress related to EMF exposure from animal and cell studies of the last decade. The observations are discussed in the context of molecular mechanisms and functionalities relevant to health such as neurological function, genome stability, immune response, and reproduction. Most animal and many cell studies showed increased oxidative stress caused by RF-EMF and ELF-MF. In order to estimate the risk for human health by manmade exposure, experimental studies in humans and epidemiological studies need to be considered as well.

Which neighbourhood factors most consistently impact on depression and anxiety remains unclear. This study examines whether objectively obtained socioeconomic, physical and social aspects of the neighbourhood in which persons live are associated with the presence and severity of depressive and anxiety disorders. Cross-sectional data are from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety including participants (n = 2980) with and without depressive and anxiety disorders in the past year (based on DSM-based psychiatric interviews). We also determined symptom severity of depression (Inventory of Depression Symptomatology), anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory) and fear (Fear Questionnaire). Neighbourhood characteristics comprised socioeconomic factors (socioeconomic status, home value, number of social security beneficiaries and percentage of immigrants), physical factors (air pollution, traffic noise and availability of green space and water) and social factors (social cohesion and safety). Multilevel regression analyses were performed with the municipality as the second level while adjusting for individual sociodemographic variables and household income. Not urbanization grade, but rather neighbourhood socioecononomic factors (low socioeconomic status, more social security beneficiaries and more immigrants), physical factors (high levels of traffic noise) and social factors (lower social cohesion and less safety) were associated with the presence of depressive and anxiety disorders. Most of these neighbourhood characteristics were also associated with increased depressive and anxiety symptoms severity. These findings suggest that it is not population density in the neighbourhood, but rather the quality of socioeconomic, physical and social neighbourhood characteristics that is associated with the presence and severity of affective disorders.

Adverse neighborhood conditions play an important role beyond individual characteristics. There is increasing interest in identifying specific characteristics of the social and built environments adversely affecting health outcomes. Most research has assessed aspects of such exposures via self-reported instruments or census data. Potential threats in the local environment may be subject to short-term changes that can only be measured with more nimble technology. The advent of new technologies may offer new opportunities to obtain geospatial data about neighborhoods that may circumvent the limitations of traditional data sources. This overview describes the utility, validity and reliability of selected emerging technologies to measure neighborhood conditions for public health applications. It also describes next steps for future research and opportunities for interventions. The paper presents an overview of the literature on measurement of the built and social environment in public health (Google Street View, webcams, crowdsourcing, remote sensing, social media, unmanned aerial vehicles, and lifespace) and location-based interventions. Emerging technologies such as Google Street View, social media, drones, webcams, and crowdsourcing may serve as effective and inexpensive tools to measure the ever-changing environment. Georeferenced social media responses may help identify where to target intervention activities, but also to passively evaluate their effectiveness. Future studies should measure exposure across key time points during the life-course as part of the exposome paradigm and integrate various types of data sources to measure environmental contexts. By harnessing these technologies, public health research can not only monitor populations and the environment, but intervene using novel strategies to improve the public health.

Background Physical inactivity is a significant public health concern, with limited signs of improvement despite a global commitment to achieving the World Health Organization’s target of 15% reduction by 2030. A systems approach is required to tackle this issue, involving the creation of environments that are conducive to physical activity. Laws represent an important tool for regulating the built environment for physical activity, are a mechanism for systems change, and have the capacity to reorient the goals and rules of a system. However, they are understudied and potentially underutilised for physical activity. Scientific legal mapping is a first step towards understanding how laws could impact the built environment to facilitate greater population physical activity. Method We conducted a legal assessment of state and territory laws in Australia, to systematically characterise how they address built environment considerations with specific relevance to walking and cycling. An interdisciplinary team of researchers with public health, law and urban planning expertise was formed to complete the multistage process. Key steps included a systematic search of laws using a combination of original legal research, consultation of secondary sources, and review and verification by an urban planning expert; development of a coding scheme; and completion of coding and quality control procedures. Results Most jurisdictions in Australia do not currently embed objectives in primary legislation that would promote physical activity and support an integrated approach to land use and transport planning that encourages active and sustainable lifestyles. Only two jurisdictions addressed the large majority of evidence-based standards that promote active living. Of the standards addressed in law, few fully met evidence-based recommendations. While most jurisdictions legislated responsibility for enforcement of planning law, few legislated obligations for monitoring implementation. Conclusion Increasing physical activity is a systems issue, requiring actions across multiple sectors. An in-depth examination of the legal environment is an important step towards understanding and influencing the existing physical activity system, why it may not be generating desired outcomes, and potential opportunities for improvement. Our findings reveal opportunities where laws could be strengthened to promote more active environments. Updating this dataset periodically will generate longitudinal data that could be used to evaluate the impact of these laws on the built environment and physical activity behaviours.