This paper compares the conceptual foundations of two recent UK public health strategy documents: Our City Our Health, a discussion document associated with the Healthy Sheffield initiative, and the British Government's The Health of the Nation as applied to England. The aspects of the conceptual foundations considered are, firstly, the definitions of health employed, and secondly, the conceptualization of the determinants of health. The question posed is: how do these compare with current knowledge about the nature of health and the social processes and factors which shape health for better or worse? Key findings in recent British research on concepts of health and the determination of health are reviewed as the basis for comparison.