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Corporations and health

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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

The Manufacture Of Lifestyle: The Role Of Corporations In Unhealthy Living, Nicholas Freudenberg May 2012

The Manufacture Of Lifestyle: The Role Of Corporations In Unhealthy Living, Nicholas Freudenberg

Publications and Research

Recently, researchers have debated two views on the connection between lifestyle and health. In the first, health-related lifestyles including tobacco and alcohol use, diet, and physical activity are seen as primary influences on health. In the second, social stratification is the dominant influence with lifestyles simply markers of social status. Neither approach leads to interventions that can reverse the world's most serious health problems. This article proposes that corporate practices are a dominant influence on the lifestyles that shape patterns of health and disease. Modifying business practices that promote unhealthy lifestyles is a promising strategy for improving population health. Corporations …


The Impact Of Corporate Practices On Health: Implications For Health Policy, Nicholas Freudenberg, Sandro Galea Apr 2008

The Impact Of Corporate Practices On Health: Implications For Health Policy, Nicholas Freudenberg, Sandro Galea

Publications and Research

Although corporate practices play a substantial role in shaping health and health behavior, public health researchers have rarely systematically studied these practices as a social determinant of health. We consider case studies of three products - trans fat, a food additive and a preservative; Vioxx, a pain killer; and sports utility vehicles - to illustrate the role of corporate policies and practices in the production of health and disease and the implications for health policy. In recent years, public health advocates, researchers, and lawyers have used strategies to reduce the adverse health impact of corporate practices. Systematic analysis of these …


Changing Corporate Practices To Reduce Cancer Disparities, Nicholas Freudenberg, Sandro Galea, Marianne Fahs Feb 2008

Changing Corporate Practices To Reduce Cancer Disparities, Nicholas Freudenberg, Sandro Galea, Marianne Fahs

Publications and Research

While reducing racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in cancer mortality has been identified as a national goal, current policies are unlikely to achieve it. In order to advance the development of policies for the primary prevention of cancer and cancer disparities, we propose that the practices of the tobacco, alcohol, and food industries be considered as modifiable social determinants of health. We review evidence that the practices of these industries in product design, marketing, retail distribution, and pricing contribute to cancer risk behavior, incidence, and disparities, then examine public health strategies designed to reduce health-damaging practices of these industries and encourage …


Public Health Advocacy To Change Corporate Practices: Implications For Health Education Practice And Research, Nicholas Freudenberg Jun 2005

Public Health Advocacy To Change Corporate Practices: Implications For Health Education Practice And Research, Nicholas Freudenberg

Publications and Research

Corporate practices, such as advertising, public relations, lobbying, litigation, and sponsoring scientific research, have a significant impact on the health of the people in the United States. Recently, health professionals and advocates have created a new scope of practice that aims to modify corporate practices that harm health. This article describes how corporate policies influence health and reviews recent health campaigns aimed at changing corporate behavior in six industries selected for their central role in the U.S. economy and their influence on major causes of mortality and morbidity. These are the alcohol, automobile, food, gun, pharmaceutical, and tobacco industries. The …