title: [Inequalities in health: definitions, concepts, and theories].
abstract: Individuals from different backgrounds, social groups, and countries enjoy different levels of health. This article defines and distinguishes between unavoidable health inequalities and unjust and preventable health inequities. We describe the dimensions along which health inequalities are commonly examined, including across the global population, between countries or states, and within geographies, by socially relevant groupings such as race/ethnicity, gender, education, caste, income, occupation, and more. Different theories attempt to explain group-level differences in health, including psychosocial, material deprivation, health behavior, environmental, and selection explanations. Concepts of relative versus absolute; dose response versus threshold; composition versus context; place versus space; the life course perspective on health; causal pathways to health; conditional health effects; and group-level versus individual differences are vital in understanding health inequalities. We close by reflecting on what conditions make health inequalities unjust, and to consider the merits of policies that prioritize the elimination of health disparities versus those that focus on raising the overall standard of health in a population.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencias Sociales y Conductuales, Escuela de Salud Pública T.H. Chan, Universidad de Harvard, Boston, MA, Estados Unidos de América, svsubram@hsph.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Mariana C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Arcaya
authors.affiliation: Agencia de Protección Ambiental de los Estados Unidos, Nueva York, NY, Estados Unidos de América.
authors.forename: Alyssa L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Arcaya
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencias Sociales y Conductuales, Escuela de Salud Pública T.H. Chan, Universidad de Harvard, Boston, MA, Estados Unidos de América, svsubram@hsph.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Subramanian
mesh_terms: D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D044469:Racial Groups; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors