Toward feminist principles for epidemiology and public health
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22071815 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stephanie Batram-Zantvoort (Bielefeld University), Stephanie Batram‐Zantvoort (0000-0002-3948-9777, Bielefeld University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Pages | 1809934-1809934 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-16 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Frontiers in Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2296-2565 • E-ISSN: 2296-2565 |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1809934 |
| PMID | 42077945 |
| OpenAlex | W7154564622 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 57 |
Background: Epidemiology has traditionally examined the distribution and determinants of health in populations. While early work focused on social determinants and collective conditions, recent decades have seen a shift toward individualized, molecular, and risk-based models emphasizing behavior, biology, and lifestyle. This shift has often obscured structural determinants and reinforced a biomedical paradigm. Feminist scholarship critiques these trends by centering lived experiences, power dynamics, and inequities in health research. Main body: This commentary explores how feminist principles can inform epidemiology, and Public Health, bridging the divide between positivist health sciences and feminist epistemologies. It outlines key feminist contributions including epistemology, theory, methodology, and reflexivity, and demonstrates how they can be operationalized in epidemiological practice. Feminist epidemiology emphasizes problem definition grounded in marginalized experiences, co-production of knowledge, intersectional analysis of sex, gender, and other social determinants, and critical attention to power relations. It advocates for the integration of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, including non-traditional data sources and inclusive language, while maintaining scientific rigor through reflexivity and contextual sensitivity. Conclusion: Incorporating feminist principles transforms epidemiology and Public Health into a socially accountable, reflexive, and justice-oriented discipline. Health is both biological and political, and evidence production must account for structural inequalities, marginalized voices, and experiential knowledge. Feminist epidemiology does not sacrifice methodological rigor. It expands its scope to include ethical, social, and participatory dimensions, promoting more inclusive, accurate, and equitable science
Feminist theory · Intersectionality · Operationalization · Participatory action research · Public health · Reflexivity · Scholarship · Social determinants of health · Social epidemiology · Feminist Theory and Gender Studies · Historical and modern epidemiology studies · Sex and Gender in Healthcare
Epidemiology and the People’s Health
Doing Feminist Research in Political and Social Science
Methodological triangulation
Theories for social epidemiology in the 21st century
Whose Science? Whose Knowledge?
Developing a Women's Thought Collective methodology for health research
Contemporary Epidemiology
Obstetric Violence in Spain (Part I)
Obstetric Violence in Spain (Part II)
Finding common ground
Introduction
Making feminism count
Embracing and Expanding Feminist Theory
Gender and the Politics of Shame
Domesticating Bodies
Making Loud Bodies “Feminine”
Embodiment
Central gender theoretical concepts in health research
Feminist Approaches to Social Science
Our Bodies Ourselves and the Women’s Health Movement in the United States
Overcoming Obstacles in Quantitative Feminist Research
Constructions of masculinity and their influence on men's well-being
Feminism meets the "new" epidemiologies
Women's health, men's health, and gender and health
State-level structural sexism and cesarean sections in the United States
Defining Women's Health
Doing Gender
Hegemonic Masculinity
Gender As a Social Structure
Theorising Gender
Medicalization and Social Control
Intersectionality
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |