Risk Factors in Health and Disease: Global Risk for Mortality

2. Global Risk for Mortality

Table 1: WHO numbers of the 10 leading global risks for mortality (death), 2004

Rank	Risk Factor	% of total deaths
1	High blood pressure	12.8
2	Tobacco use	8.7
3	High blood glucose	5.8
4	Physical inactivity	5.5
5	Overweight and obesity	4.8
6	High cholesterol	4.5
7	Unsafe sex	4.0
8	Alcohol use	3.8
9	Childhood underweight	3.8
10	Indoor smoke from solid fuels	3.3

The number of total global deaths in 2004 was 59 million people.

Table 1 shows the 10 most common risk factors that caused a large portion of total global deaths in 2004 according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The top six leading risk factors are all linked to potential development of long-term diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancers.

The ranking seen in Table 1 differs if income and other demographic factors are considered.

For high- and middle-income countries, the most important risk factors are those related to long-term diseases whereas in low-income countries, factors such as childhood malnutrition and unsafe sex are much more widespread.

Risk factors also change with age. Some risk factors almost exclusively affect children such as malnutrition and indoor smoke from solid fuels. For adults, there are considerable differences depending on age:

Unsafe sex and addictive substances (e.g. tobacco and alcohol) account for most of the health problems in younger adults
Risk factors for long-term diseases and cancers mainly affect older adults.

Gender differences also exist. For example, men are much more likely to be at risk of factors associated with addictive substances. Women during pregnancy often suffer from iron deficiency.