This issue of the Journal highlights the theme of this year’s annual meeting (140th American Public Health Association Annual Meeting): Prevention and Wellness Across the Life Span. The depth and breadth of this theme is well reflected in the diverse set of articles featured in this particular issue (and, undoubtedly, many previous issues). In reviewing these articles, I am struck by the ways in which the public health agenda continually evolves to identify and understand the shifting health needs of diverse groups and communities in the midst of social, economic, and demographic transitions, as well as how public health policies, programs, and practices are thoughtfully and carefully integrated within health care delivery systems to provide comprehensive health care and promote wellness for all ages.
Ensuring the health and well-being of children across diverse communities has been at the forefront of our nation’s public health agenda. Whether it be utilizing a life-course approach to understanding pre-, peri-, and postnatal factors associated with differences in childhood body mass index, as in the article by Weden et al. (p. 2057) or focusing on current factors in the physical environment that facilitate daily physical activity, as in the article by Mori et al. (p. 2068), efforts to curtail the obesity epidemic in this younger generation will require a multifaceted approach. Meanwhile, on a different but equally important note, Yu and Singh (p. 2102) focus on the family and home environment of immigrant families to illustrate how the confluence of economic and psychosocial burdens increase stressful parenting and reduce mental health and well-being of parents and children in immigrant families. Although focusing on differing topics, these articles serve as a reminder that differences in environments—from the biological to the societal—contribute to inequities in patterns of exposure and health outcomes.
Among adults, public health research and prevention efforts have historically focused on curtailing individual-level behaviors (e.g., smoking, alcohol use, sexual risk behaviors, unhealthy dietary habits, lack of physical exercise). However, there has been a perceptible shift toward elucidating the complex roles that social, political, and economic inequalities play in shaping the health of adults and their families within and across societies. Martinson’s article (p. 2049) provides a compelling examination of income inequalities and health in the United States and England and reminds us that “the policy discussion on reducing health disparities requires attention to broader social conditions, and not simply health insurance and health care.”
Finally, this issue presents a picture of the complexities and challenges the public health community faces with the aging of our society. Lin et al. (p. 2157) provide a novel examination of disability trends among older US adults. Their findings reveal that
after accounting for the effects of aging and for period effects that help tap changes in sociocultural, economic, technological, and environmental factors … successive cohorts of older adults are becoming more disabled over time.
In recognition of the growing need for policies and programs that promote healthy aging, Coronini-Cronberg et al. (p. 2141) provide an evaluation of a free bus pass policy in England aimed at increasing public transportation use and ensuing physical activity levels among older adults while Kelsey et al. (p. 2149) provide evidence to inform the development of fall prevention programs in an older adult cohort. Thus, policies meant to enhance the social and physical well-being of older adults may have unintended consequences, which also require careful monitoring and prevention programming.
In closing, it is our hope that this Journal issue continues to move forward our public health agenda to protect and promote the health and well-being of individuals and communities across all generations—be they children, adults, or the elderly.