Personal Health: A Public Health Perspective

Written to guide students developing healthy lifestyles while helping them better understand the policy decisions that encourage health, Personal Health: A Public Health Perspective uniquely provides information about individual health topics – including those of great interest and relevance to college-aged students – while presenting them in the context of community and global health.

Thoroughly updated to reflect current statistics, research, treatments, and more, the Second Edition also includes coverage of COVID-19, including its impact on mental health; expanded coverage of the social determinants of health and health inequities; new material on violence prevention including sexual assault and gun control; different ways to approach healthy eating and helpful tips on incorporating exercise; and much more.

Filled with examples from social media, websites, and the popular press as well as peer-reviewed publications, the Second Edition also is enlivened with numerous features including:

• Try It! which applies topics from the text to the students’ daily life.
• Fact vs. Fiction which debunks popular health myths and explores controversies,
• By the Numbers which displays relevant and often surprising statistics to further the students’ understanding of the topics.
• Up for Debate which describes current controversies in public health.
• Going Upstream provides insights to help students think about predisposing factors to health, particularly social determinants of health.
• Tales of Public Health which that are real-life stories to bring a human face to a concept