Working on the social determinants of health is central to public health

Most families tried to have their raw sewage collected and dumped in the Thames to prevent their cesspit from filling faster than the sewage could decompose into the soil.6 Translating this professional spirit to today's challenges, public health officers working at the local level may wish to map the availability of junk food with the incidence and prevalence of cardio-vascular diseases and over-weight, study the patterns of over-weight in the community, including availability of public transport, recreation facilities and so on, and by use of statistics illustrate the connections; and engage with local government about risky conditions in the community and NCD cases. [...]public health practitioners need to work with city planners to increase physical activity, and with local policy makers to create incentives for healthy food shops to open in areas with high prevalence of NCD's.