Introduction

• remaining queries / to do list:
• course title to be finalised (FYI the old version of this course was called Exploring health: is your lifestyle really to blame?)
• course image to be picked (banner image that sits on front of course, and thumbnail size at the top of every page, currently has a placeholder in situ)
• some short bits of text to be added to section opening pages (I've suggested a possible solution for Section 3, see comment on that page)
• Section 1.2 – Figure 3 – to be added? or removed?
• Section 2.1 – section at bottom to be kept where it is, or moved to separate page?
• Section 3.4 – see query about editing the learning guide reference out
• full reference info to be added. I've collated the short refs to get that started (see References page)
• glossary – couldn’t find a definition for ‘structural’ on the module site, can one be provided?
• see Acknowledgements page – course credit to be added! can be as detailed as appropriate to credit everyone who’s worked on this course

People make choices, but not in circumstances of their own choosing. That is to say, we all do make health choices, like choosing what we eat. But the circumstances of such choices aren’t always entirely under our control. For example, we don’t pick what a supermarket sells to us, we don’t necessarily understand what goes into the way a brand or a product is advertised. What is ‘healthy’ also changes over time. In the 1950s and 1960s, for instance, white bread was often advertised as ‘healthy’ – that is less true now, compared to seeded loaves. These are the kind of choices that we might already know something about. But what about all the broader circumstances we don’t know anything about, but which might nevertheless affect our health?

So, are the factors influencing our health and wellbeing social or structural, or can they be exclusively attributed to individual differences in terms of lifestyle? For instance, in high-income countries, many people live physically inactive lifestyles, and this can have a negative impact on a person’s health as it is associated with obesity. By considering the impact of social, cultural, political and economic factors that influence obesity in adulthood, you will investigate whether a focus on lifestyles and a person’s behaviours is sufficient to explain contemporary health and wellbeing concerns. You will also learn about two broad approaches used to generate evidence in the field of health: quantitative and qualitative research.

This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course K212 Critical ideas in wellbeing and public health. You can find out more about Open University courses and qualifications, tuition fees and funding options by visiting our online prospectus.