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