The Commercial Determinants of Health
The Wider Determinants of Health
Not everyone has the same chances in life when it comes to maintaining good health and avoiding illness. By looking at data from across large populations researchers can start to identify these differences and these are known as the determinants of health. While many of these determinants are more focussed on the individual and how they interact with others (see this link for more on this), there are many which shape the environment in which the individual exists and these are termed the Social Determinants.
The Commercial Determinants of Health
More recently, attention has shifted to the drivers that help shape these personal and social determinants of health and in particular the impact that commercial interests have on our "choices". The Commercial Determinants of Health have been defined as…“strategies and approaches used by the private sector to promote products and choices that are detrimental to health” (Kickbusch et al., 2016) and this page contains slides and resources used to explore this topic.
Key Recommended Reading
Kickbusch, I., Allen, L., & Franz, C. (2016). The commercial determinants of health. The Lancet Global Health, 4(12), e895-e896. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(16)30217-0
McKee, M., & Stuckler, D. (2018). Revisiting the corporate and commercial determinants of health. American Journal of Public Health, 108(9), 1167-1170. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304510
Naik et al. (2019) Going upstream – an umbrella review of the macroeconomic determinants of health and health inequalities. BMC Public Health 19:1678 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7895-6
Further Reading
Allen, L. N., Hatefi, A., & Feigl, A. B. (2019). Corporate profits versus spending on non-communicable disease prevention: an unhealthy balance. The Lancet Global Health, 7(11), e1482-e1483. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(19)30399-7
Brownell KD, Warner KE (2009) The perils of ignoring history: Big tobacco played dirty and millions died. how similar is big food. Milbank Q 87:259–294. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0009.2009.00555.x
Dorfman L, Cheyne A, Friedman LC, et al (2012) Soda and tobacco industry corporate social responsibility campaigns: How do they compare? PLoS Med 9:9. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001241
Fallin, A., Grana, R., & Glantz, S. A. (2014). ‘To quarterback behind the scenes, third-party efforts’: the tobacco industry and the Tea Party. Tobacco Control, 23(4), 322-331. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2012-050815
Hernandez-Aguado I, Zaragoza GA (2016) Support of public–private partnerships in health promotion and conflicts of interest. BMJ Open 6:e009342. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009342
Kickbusch, I. (2012) Addressing The Interface of the Political and Commercial Determinants of Health. Health Promotion International, 27 (4), 427-428.
Kickbusch, I., Allen, L., & Franz, C. (2016). The commercial determinants of health. The Lancet Global Health, 4(12), e895-e896. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(16)30217-0
Maani, N., Collin, J., Friel, S., Gilmore, A.B., McCambridge, J., Robertson, L., Petticrew, M.P. (2020) Bringing the commercial determinants of health out of the shadows: a review of how the commercial determinants are represented in conceptual frameworks, European Journal of Public Health, ckz197, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckz197
Maani, N, Bertscher A, Critchlow N, Fitzgerald N, Knai C, Stead M, Petticrew M. Recruiting the “Heavy-Using Loyalists of Tomorrow”: An Analysis of the Aims, Effects and Mechanisms of Alcohol Advertising, Based on Advertising Industry Evaluations. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16(21):4092. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16214092
McKee, M., & Stuckler, D. (2018). Revisiting the corporate and commercial determinants of health. American Journal of Public Health, 108(9), 1167-1170. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304510
Michaels, D., & Monforton, C. (2005). Manufacturing uncertainty: contested science and the protection of the public’s health and environment. American Journal of Public Health, 95(S1), S39-S48.
Petticrew, M., Katikireddi, S. V., Knai, C., Cassidy, R., Hessari, N. M., Thomas, J., & Weishaar, H. (2017). ‘Nothing can be done until everything is done’: the use of complexity arguments by food, beverage, alcohol and gambling industries. J Epidemiol Community Health, 71(11), 1078-1083.
Wiist, W. H. (2019). Mechanisms Underlying Corporations as Determinants of Health. American journal of public health, 109(2), e1-e1.
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Corporate Consumption Complex And The Need For A New Public Health Agenda
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