Welcome to our Editor’s Pick collection for Public Health Education and Promotion, a specialty section within Frontiers in Public Health. In this collection, we showcase a selection of the most innovative and impactful articles in the section. These articles were selected by our Specialty Chief Editor, Professor Christiane Stock, of the Institute of Health and Nursing Science at Charité – Universitätsmedizin, Berlin. This geographically diverse collection brings together critical research addressing a wide array of issues, from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic to the climate crisis. These articles represent the forefront of public health education and promotion scholarship, including effective educational approaches to improve vaccination rates, to continuously evolve public health curricula to address emerging global health challenges, and develop personalised, participatory and inclusive approaches for public health education and promotion. Our hope is for this collection to offer a roadmap for public health advancement through diverse, innovative strategies tailored to various cultural and regional contexts. We wish to spotlight exceptional work of our authors, foster readership through our open-access principles, and extend our gratitude to our Editorial Board for their dedication.

This Research Topic is a follow on from the Topic Editors' successful volume I. The term “health literacy” was coined by Ratzan et al. in the 1970s providing the minimal health education required in schools, however this term is almost new and in the early phase of development. Though many attempts have been made in the past to define health literacy, WHO construed it as “the cognitive and social skills which determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, understand and use information in ways which promote and maintain good health.” Health literacy not only focuses on the individual behavior oriented communication but also on the various determinants of health such as environmental, social, and political factors, thus it is ahead in the concept of health education. If health education methods go beyond the bounds of “information diffusion” and bring about interaction, participation, and critical analysis, such kind of approach will lead to improved health literacy, personal aid, and social benefit by enabling adequate community action and contributions to the advancement of social capital.

Principles and Practice of Health Promotion and Public Health brings together the disciplines and fields of study that inform the work of promoting health into one book and provides many examples of practice. It starts with understanding ourselves and our health and continues with chapters on working in health promotion and public health; epidemiology; research methods and evidence-based practice; health psychology; communicating health; health education; health promotion; public health; health protection; arts and health; tackling tobacco, alcohol and drugs; tackling overweight; promoting health in workplaces and promoting health within the National Health Service. Together these communicate the core principles of how to prevent disease and promote health when working with individuals, communities and populations in any country across the world. The book focusses on adults’ health and includes international and UK examples. Principles and Practice of Health Promotion and Public Health complements Priorities for Health Promotion and Public Health, published in 2021. Both are core texts for those studying health promotion or public health and supplementary texts for students of healthcare and social care. They are ideal for public health practitioners and members of the wider public health workforce.