CHAPTER 14

The Politics of Population Health

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Determinants of obesity from a behavioural perspective include ________.
   1. activity level
   2. genetics
   3. energy inputs/outputs
   4. birth weight
2. The main feature(s) of a liberal regime that are consistent with neo-liberal ideology include ________.
   1. promotion of pubic programs such as low-cost housing
   2. robust regulation of private business, corporations
   3. a strong population health perspective
   4. low taxes and low level of public services
3. Coordinated market economies (CMEs) in comparison with the Canadian and American markets ________.
   1. have substantially more part-time and contract worker rather than permanent full-time employees
   2. have more highly regulated wages and benefits
   3. expect employees to be “job ready”
   4. provide fewer training opportunities and benefits for workers
4. The following exemplifies an individual-level approach to health: ________.
   1. encouraging people to exercise more
   2. pushing for fairer income distribution
   3. improving gender equity
   4. building more affordable housing
5. The following approach is more consistent with population health/social determinants of health approach: ________.
   1. improving and expanding health care services
   2. educating people on the benefits of proper nutrition
   3. closer regulation of the food industry
   4. encouraging people to exercise more
6. Michael Marmot’s key message is that ________.
   1. population-level health differences arise from social inequalities
   2. people should increase their level of exercise if they want to stay healthy
   3. child development, income, and good jobs are less important than healthy lifestyles
   4. neo-liberal policies are good health policy
7. ________ is partially responsible for the increasing inequality in the liberal regime countries.
   1. A sharp reduction in personal and corporate taxes
   2. The shift toward more steeply progressive taxes
   3. Increased tariffs and trade barriers
   4. The expansion of labour-intensive industry
8. Behaviouralist thinking is compatible with ________ ideology.
   1. liberal
   2. socialist
   3. feminist
   4. communist
9. In the past decades, social mobility in Canada has ________.
   1. increased dramatically
   2. decreased
   3. remained unchanged
   4. disappeared entirely

1. Affluent parents ________.
   1. increase social, economic, and health inequality through securing extra resources for their children
   2. often have less healthy children due to excess leisure, junk food, and screen time
   3. act to close the gap between privileged and other children by contributing money and time to charities
   4. rarely leave large amounts of unearned wealth to their children
2. Compared to other countries, Canada’s impact on global pollution is ________.
   1. rather minor, due to progressive public policy
   2. rather minor, due to high gas prices
   3. rather big, due to Canada’s energy sector
   4. rather big, due to low gas prices
3. Compared to the European Union and Japan, governments in liberal regime countries have ________.
   1. stricter regulation of food labelling system
   2. more stringent food standards
   3. less strict regulation of food industry
   4. tighter regulation of food prices
4. ________ is NOT a feature of liberal market economy.
   1. Higher wages
   2. Flexible employment
   3. Part time or contract work
   4. Shift work
5. Shift work results in ________.
   1. poorer health
   2. better work–life balance
   3. higher wages
   4. more employment opportunities
6. The views of ________ are most compatible with the social determinants of health approach.
   1. Anthony Giddens
   2. Bill Gates
   3. Angelina Jolie
   4. Rudolf Virchow
7. The countries with higher life expectancy are those in which ________.
   1. there is a stronger sense of social solidarity
   2. more people exercise
   3. people eat lots of fruit and vegetables
   4. very few people smoke
8. According to the ________ understanding, ill health arises from the interaction of host characteristics of age, sex, and genes with environmental variables and health-related behaviours.
   1. biomedical
   2. behavioural
   3. neo-liberal
   4. collective
9. Northern Europeans embrace the ________ principle – i.e. people see themselves as linked to others with their welfare tied to the health and welfare of the other members of their communities.
   1. solidarity
   2. neo-liberal
   3. consumer
   4. me-first
10. If you live in Denmark, you are likely to believe your income is ________.
    1. deserved
    2. associated with your education and hard work
    3. mostly due to luck
    4. a function of intelligence and moral qualities
11. A population health/social epidemiology approach contends ________.
    1. behaviour and lifestyle are irrelevant to health outcomes
    2. medical and other care services have next to no impact on health
    3. collective, macro, contextual variables are the ones that truly matter
    4. a proper understanding of health determinants requires a multi-level analysis

True or False Questions

1. The solidarity principle suggests that people ought to rely on themselves and their families, demand lower taxes, and be more suspicious of the government.
2. While wages for lower-income Canadians have declined, the income of upper-class people has risen substantially.
3. A behavioural approach considers attributes of the population, the place, and the social, economic, cultural, and political structures in which the individual is embedded.
4. According to Michael Marmot, differences in the health of populations arise from social inequalities.
5. Canada has a strong system of government regulation of food production and distribution.
6. Compared to other rich countries, Canada’s emission levels are relatively low.
7. Income inequality in Canada has grown in the past decades.
8. According to the population health perspective, the best way to improve population health is through focusing on individual-level population health models.
9. Canada is an example of a country with coordinated market economy.
10. Countries with coordinated market economies usually have better population health indicators.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are the differences among the biomedical, behavioural, and population-level approaches to health?
2. Can Michael Marmot be considered an advocate of the social determinants of health approach? Explain your answer.
3. What are the major features of neo-liberalism?
4. What are the three effects of the global oil industry on food prices?
5. What are the differences between coordinated and liberal market economies?

Essay Questions

1. Using examples identified in text, discuss how you would go about improving population health in Canada.
2. Identify and explain the differences between countries whose cultures emphasize individualism and those that emphasize solidarity. Explain the implications of a country’s predominant values for population health.
3. What is the link between globalization and population health? In your answer, provide specific examples.