Bridging Disciplines: An Introduction to the Special Issue on Public Health and Pediatric Psychology

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Abstract
Public health reflects a broad variety of activities, with the ultimate goal of reducing disease mortality and morbidity and promoting health of the population as a whole. In the past, population health was measured by a relative absence of diseases, and the focus of public health research and practice was on the control of such diseases (especially communicable and infectious ones). However, more recently, a broader definition of health has been recognized. The World Health Organization views health as not just an absence of something, namely disease, but as a resource for realizing higher aspirations, satisfying needs, and coping with changes in the environment (Young, 1998). With this conceptualization being more widely adopted, the focus of population health has broadened to include social, environmental, and behavioral factors that may jeopardize health, placing individuals at risk for disease. Consequently, there is increased interest in including behavioral science and theory in the dialogue of public health research (Muehrer et al., 2002). Public health efforts aimed at pediatric populations have focused on either preventing problematic health outcomes in children (e.g., injury, childhood obesity, social/emotional problems) or preventing health risk behaviors associated with adult-onset chronic diseases (e.g., smoking prevention to reduce cancer or heart disease).

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