Child health promotion: a task for social pediatrics

Health implies broad and positive aspects of life, well beyond disease and medical care. It is clearly expressed in the constitution of the WHO, and has been clarified in the Health for All strategy, emphasizing health promotion as a basic means to enable people to increase control over their health. The study of the broad and complex issues of population health is called public health; it naturally also includes children and their special needs. The ideology of Health for All, the science of public health and the imperatives of children's health are integrated in Social Pediatrics. Its task is to place the health of children in a full social, economic and political context, using inter-disciplinary, interprofessional and inter-sector cooperation with the children and their parents as the basis for all activities. After relating a few successes of socio-pediatric actions on a national level, the focus is directed towards health promotion issues that are especially significant for children and young persons, i.e. fundamental, academic and practical issues. The way ahead for children's health promotion and for Social Pediatrics lies in the readiness to anticipate change and to adapt to new societal needs.