THE PARAMETERS OF CHILDREN'S HEALTH: KEY CONCEPTS FROM THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF HEALTH LITERATURE

In this article key aspects of a political economy approach to addressing children's health are identified. These aspects include a concern with how power and influence of various societal sectors come to shape the social determinants of children's health through the creation of specific forms of public policy. These public policies affect children's health through two primary pathways: shaping the social determinants of parents' health and shaping specific social determinants of children's health. These approaches cluster such that a worlds of welfare states approach can illuminate specific aspects of Canada's approach to creating public policies that shape children's health. Implications for promoting children's health that derive from a political economy approach are presented.