Slovene Suplement, Vol. 11 - 2004, Suplement

Should a good citizen be healthy, too?

Tanja Kamin, Blanka Tivadar, pages: 41-74

The article reflects on the power of risk communication interventions, by which public health authorities aim to regulate the population’s health. According to the medical model, which is the prevailing approach in Slovenia’s public health promotion, healthy behaviour occurs in accordance with people's knowledge of a healthy way of life and health risks. This relation is far from linear, however. Many factors prevent people from engaging in recommended, preventive behaviours. The article illuminates some of these factors with the help of a qualitative, empirical study of food-related concerns in Slovenia and introduces seven main categories of lay risk prevention relativisation: laborious and unhealthy discipline; corrupt and mistaken science; all-inclusive, unavoidable risk; primacy of male taste; body wisdom; optimistic bias; and expensive health management.

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