Risk factors of NCD

Intermediate Risk Factors of NCDs are

Obesity
Elevated Blood Pressure
Elevated Blood Sugar
High Cholesterol

All these risk factors leads to NCDs

Cardiovascular Diseases
Diabetes
Cancer
Chronic Kidney Diseases
Chronic Respiratory Diseases
Mental Diseases

Unhealthy diet

Eating a diet that contains highly-processed items such as fast foods and snack foods. Highly-processed foods tend to be low in nutrients (vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants) and high in empty calories due to the lack of fruit and vegetables, high salt, high sugar, and high fat.

Lack of physical activities

Adults aged 18–64 years

should do at least 150–300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity

Globally, 1 in 4 adults do not meet the global recommended levels of physical activity
According to STEPS Survey 2021 in Sri Lanka, 34.8% of adults in Sri Lanka is with insufficient physical activities.
People who are insufficiently active have a 20% to 30% increased risk of death compared to people who are sufficiently active

Harmful use of alcohol

Although, moderate alcohol is known to lower the incidence of heart disease, consumption of alcohol is not advisable due to various other health effects associated with alcohol (Dietary guidelines for Sri Lankans).

More than half of the 3 million annual deaths attributable to alcohol use are from NCDs, including cancer (WHO). According to STEPS Survey 2021 in Sri Lanka, about 43.3% of males, over 18 years consumed alcohol, and only 1.2% of females consumed alcohol.

Tobacco

All forms of tobacco are harmful, and there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco (WHO). Tobacco accounts for over 8 million deaths every year (including from the effects of exposure to second-hand smoke).

Tobacco is harmful not only for people who smoke but also for those who don’t smoke. Second-hand smoke can also cause serious health problems and even lead to death. Each year, approximately 1.2 million deaths are attributed to being exposed to second-hand smoke.

According to STEPS Survey 2021 in Sri Lanka, 30.2% of adult males is currently smokes tobacco and only 0.2% of adult women smoke tobacco.

Air Pollution

The combined effects of ambient air pollution and household air pollution are associated with 6.7 million premature deaths annually- due to stroke, heart disease, COPD, lung cancer, acute respiratory infections.
Ambient (outdoor) air pollution is estimated to have caused 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide in 2019.
Household air pollution was responsible for an estimated 3.2 million deaths per year in 2020, including over 237 000 deaths of children under the age of 5.
In 2019, 99% of the world’s population was living in places where the WHO air quality guidelines levels were not met.

Stress

Stress results from an unhappy state of mind due to failure of expectations. Long-term stress can increase blood cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, blood pressure and body weight which are intermediate risk factors of NCDs.

Overweight and Obesity

The excessive body weight is a serious health problem, and it is a risk factor for many NCDs. According to STEPS Survey 2021 in Sri Lanka, 11.0% of adults were obese (6.3% of males and 15.2% of females). For adults, the WHO defines overweight and obesity as follows:
• Overweight is a BMI greater than or equal to 25
• Obesity is a BMI greater than or equal to 30

Elevated Blood Pressure

High blood pressure levels can lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness, and cognitive impairment. According to STEPS Survey 2021 in Sri Lanka, 34.8% of adults have hypertension.

Elevated Blood Sugar

high blood sugar can cause serious problems if it stays high for a long time or gets to a very high level. The raised fasting blood glucose levels are defined as >=126 mg/dl. According to STEPS Survey 2021 in Sri Lanka, 14.6% of adults in Sri Lanka has raised fasting blood glucose levels.

Complications of high blood glucose levels are;

permanent damage to the nerves in your hands and feet (peripheral neuropathy)
permanent damage to your eyes and problems with your sight (diabetic retinopathy)
life-threatening conditions such as diabetic ketoacidosis

High Cholesterol

Blood cholesterol is one of the most important risk factors for ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and ischaemic stroke. According to Sri Lankan guidelines, cutoff value of raised total cholesterol is 240mg/dl. According to STEPS Survey 2021 in Sri Lanka, 19.0% of adults had higher cholesterol levels.