An ecological framework for improving child and adolescent health

The rise in non-communicable disease as a principal cause of premature mortality and a continuing failure to address health inequalities requires a critical examination of prevailing paradigms in health. In this paper, we offer ecology as an alternative way to view health need and as a guide to action to enhance human health and model a healthy economy. After describing the shortcomings of the prevailing biophysical approach to health, we describe an ecological approach to health that brings to the forefront social and environmental determinants and empowers health workers together with their communities to achieve a health-affirming society and economy.