Living a healthy lifestyle might seem like common sense, but the environment we live in can make healthy choices more difficult. Whether it’s how much access we have to green spaces, the transport we take to work, or our diet, each can have an impact on leading a long and healthy life.
Diet and activity behaviours, together with alcohol and tobacco, are risk factors for the world’s fastest growing health epidemic: a group of ‘silent killers’ that often develop slowly over many years and are known as the non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
NCDs, so-called because they are not transmitted person to person, include diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, cancer and mental health disorders, and are by far the leading global cause of death. Of 57 million deaths recorded worldwide in 2008, NCDs were responsible for 36 million, 80% of which were in low- and middle-income countries. By 2030, the total number of NCD-related deaths could rise to 52 million and result in a cumulative loss in global economic output of $47 trillion.
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Image: Swimmers Credit: Microsoft Corporation
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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