Schools and Public Health

Gard and Pluim have produced a coherent reflection on the history of relations between schools and public health.  Though the authors quickly introduce the term ‘school health’ as a synonym for public health in educational space, the book remains useful for teachers and school administrators interested in the historical relationship between schools and public, health-related initiatives in schools.  Gard and Pluim offer a needed addition to scholarship on schools and public health that sets the stage for more sophisticated discussions about the present and future of public health interventions in educational environments.  The book's strength is that it provides a strong history of the positive and negative (even exploitative) ways that corporate and institutional influence, wielded in the name of health, have operated in education space.  The authors focus chiefly on Western educational settings and initiatives with a corporate and economic modality.  Readers would benefit from more contemporary examples of public health initiatives in schools.  The book is a vanguard piece in the examination of school health’s history from an educational perspective, as opposed to previously penned works by public health practitioners.  Gard and Pluim’s informative mediation introduces teachers to the history, context, usefulness, and methods of health intervention in schools. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Undergraduates and above. * CHOICE *
Through meticulous scholarship this book traces the relationship between public health and American schools from the end of the nineteenth century to the recent incursions by corporations and programs sponsored by food and drink industries. The arguments and examples provided will provoke those working in health education to consider the political and economic interests at work in shaping school health. It is essential reading for any person concerned by the ways commercial interests are impacting schools. -- Jan Wright, University of Wollongong
Gard and Pluim have written an important book that deserves to be read by all those involved in public health initiatives that target schools as the site of implementation. It should also be read by school administrators charged with implementing such initiatives and academics who research and write about them. The authors have provided an insightful analysis of the relationship between public health and education in the United States by drawing on key examples from the past and present. This fine book gives us a modest, sophisticated, well-researched assessment of this complex issue. -- Richard Tinning, University of Queensland, University of Auckland
This is a stunning contribution to the pressing, ongoing debates about public health policy, obesity levels, and education. It will challenge, please, and annoy in equal measure. Rich in scholarship and empirical detail, it is essential reading for policy makers and practitioners alike. -- John Evans, Loughborough University