They include smoking, obesity, type II diabetes , a poor diet, excess alcohol consumption and lack of physical activity. A good control of these risk factors is particularly important for those people who have non-modifiable risk factors, such as a family history of heart disease. The risk factors interact with each other and their effect is cumulative. Obese people tend to have increased levels of blood cholesterol, high blood pressure and an increased risk of diabetes. People gain weight if the amount of energy obtained from food and drinks is greater than the amount of energy used up.
Inactive people use up less energy than people who exercise regularly.
A person is overweight if the BMI is over 25, or obese if BMI is over 30. It is easier for the fat around the waist to have access to the blood supply of the liver. A simple way to measure whether you are 'apple shaped' or not, is to measure your waist circumference. Blood pressure tends to be raised in people who are obese, drink too much alcohol, take little or no exercise and who smoke. Current intakes of salt in the UK average 9 grams per day, it is recommended that we reduce our intake to 6 grams per day.