WHEN LESS IS MORE IN PUBLIC HEALTH.

With obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease reaching epidemic proportions and health-care cost costs spiraling out of control, policy experts in the United States are taking a closer look at alternatives to the medical model of health care. James C. Riley demonstrates that the public health model, with its emphasis on education, disease prevention, and skill development, effectively controlled infectious diseases in many poor countries during the 20th century. The countries Riley profiles have yet to attain economic success, yet each now boasts relatively low chronic disease rates and life expectancies that are at or near those in the United States. Riley's book provides evidence that demand for high-cost interventions can be controlled when populations have the knowledge, skills, and motivation they need to stay healthy.