Health as an economic engine: evidence for the importance of health in economic development.

Most discussions on the relationships between health and economic conditions have focused on the impact of differences in personal finances or national economic conditions on health. Recently, however, the role of health as an 'economic engine' has been promoted. This paradigm proposes that better health leads to economic development. Evidence from historical, national, and transnational studies have shown that improved health increases economic growth through impacts on micro- and macro-economic factors. In this review, we will summarize the evidence supporting these concepts as a basis for discussing their implications for underdeveloped regions within the United States.