Glossary

A risk factor is a characteristic, condition or habit that increases a person™s chances to develop a particular disease or injury, for example, physical inactivity may, over time, contribute to weight gain, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. Risk factors include:

• behavioural (poor diet, smoking, alcohol consumption),
  
• biomedical (high weight, high blood pressure),
  
• environmental (social, economic, cultural),
  
• genetic (chromosomal abnormalities),
  
• demographic (age, gender, ethnicity).