Because of the rising cost of treating illness coupled with the difficult economic environment, interest in health promotion is increasing worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health promotion as the process of enabling people to increase control over their health and its determinants (e.g. smoking, physical activity, diet), and thereby improve their health. This is usually addressed by activities aimed at promoting healthy behaviors and creating healthy policies and environments in order to affect large segments of the population.
The impact of these activities is enhanced if healthy public policy is adopted across all sectors of society, especially by governments, including in settings such as urban planning not typically seen as part of the health system.