Public health thinking requires an overhaul, a return to and modernization around ecological principles. Ecological Public Health thinking, outlined by Tim Lang and Geof Rayner, fits the twenty-first century’s challenges. It integrates what the authors call the four dimensions of existence: the material, biological, social and cultural aspects of life. Public health becomes the task of transforming the relationship between people, their circumstances and the biological world of nature and bodies. These transitions are Demographic, Epidemiological, Urban, Energy, Economic, Nutrition, Biological, Cultural and Democracy itself. By analyzing the theory and practice of public health last two or three centuries, the authors showed an evolution in thinking about public health. The term ‘ecological public health’ characterizes times in which everything is important, when it comes to health and well-being. The challenge for policy makers is one of navigating this complexity to deliver better health and greater equality in health.

Public health thinking requires an overhaul, a return to and modernization around ecological principles. Ecological Public Health thinking, outlined by Tim Lang and Geof Rayner, fits the twenty-first century’s challenges. It integrates what the authors call the four dimensions of existence: the material, biological, social and cultural aspects of life. Public health becomes the task of transforming the relationship between people, their circumstances and the biological world of nature and bodies. These transitions are Demographic, Epidemiological, Urban, Energy, Economic, Nutrition, Biological, Cultural and Democracy itself. By analyzing the theory and practice of public health last two or three centuries, the authors showed an evolution in thinking about public health. The term ‘ecological public health’ characterizes times in which everything is important, when it comes to health and well-being. The challenge for policy makers is one of navigating this complexity to deliver better health and greater equality in health.