Health and wellbeing are affected by many factors, and those that are associated with ill health, disability, disease or death are known as risk factors. Risk factors are presented here individually, however in practice they do not operate in isolation. They often coexist and interact with one another.
Behavioural risk factors that can be eliminated or reduced through lifestyle or behavioral changes include:
- tobacco smoking
- excessive alcohol consumption
- poor diet and nutrition
- physical inactivity
- excessive sun exposure
- insufficient vaccination
- unprotected sexual activity.
Biomedical risk factors may be influenced by a combination of genetic, lifestyle and other broad factors. Biomedical risk factors include:
- overweight and obesity
- high blood pressure
- high blood cholesterol
- impaired glucose tolerance