Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Disease

In Great Britain, 21 per cent of adults smoke cigarettes.

Smoking increases the risk of heart disease and a study of British doctors found smokers had around a 60 per cent greater chance of dying from heart disease than non smokers.

The prevalence of smoking is higher in Scotland and Northern Ireland compared to England and Wales.

Around a quarter of adults in England are obese.

Around 30 per cent of boys and girls aged 2 to 15 in England and Scotland are overweight or obese.

Only a third of men and women currently eat the recommended five portions of fruit and veg per day in Britain.

Only around one in five boys and girls aged 5 to 15 consume the recommended amount of fruit and veg.

More than a third of men and nearly a third of women regularly exceed the government recommended level of alcohol intake.

Around one in three adults in England and Scotland have high blood pressure and nearly half of them are not receiving treatment for the condition.

Around six in ten adults in England have blood cholesterol levels of 5mmol/l or above.

Source-British Heart Foundation www.bhf.org.uk