Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes are now the primary cause of premature deaths worldwide, killing over 36 million people each year. A large percentage of these conditions are self-inflicted, caused by unhealthy lifestyle choices such as drinking, smoking and an unbalanced diet.
A recent report by the World Health Organization revealed that measures to control the spread of NCDs has been inadequate, leading to the United Nations health agency to put pressure on governments around the world to do more to tackle the global health crisis.
Data for this research was obtained from the World Health Organization, the CIA World Factbook and the World Lung Association. Each country’s performance was ranked on three factors:
- Alcohol consumption per person, per year
- Tobacco consumption per person, per year
- Obesity prevalence within the population
The ranks for each country were then averaged to determine which population poses the biggest threat to their health through harmful behaviours.
15. Lebanon comes in third for tobacco consumption. Each resident smokes an average of 3,023 cigarettes per year.
14. Canada – Some 30.1% of the Canadian population are obese.
13. Belgium – Our Country is seventh for both alcohol and tobacco consumption.
12. Estonia. Some 24.5% of the population is obese, and the average alcohol consumption per resident each year is 12.8 litres.
11. Bulgaria came in joint sixth place for alcohol consumption, and 25.6% of the population is obese.
10. Lithuania. Lithuanians drink more than any other population on the list — 18.2 litres of alcohol each year, per person.
Also 10. United States of America is the only non-European country to make the top 10 on the list, having the ninth highest rate of obesity in the world — 35% of the adult population is classified as dangerously overweight.
9. Luxembourg. Nearly 25% of the population is obese.
8. Poland. On average, each resident smokes 1,369 cigarettes per year, and drinks 12.3 litres of pure alcohol.
7. Croatia. The country came in joint sixth for alcohol consumption, at 13.6 litres per person, per year.
6. Hungary. On average, each resident of Hungary smokes 1,774 cigarettes per year.
5. Slovakia. Some 27.4% of the population is obese in Slovakia. Residents are also the joint ninth highest consumers of alcohol.
4. Belarus. The country came in second for both alcohol and tobacco consumption.
3. Slovenia. The country’s residents are the sixth biggest consumers of tobacco products on the planet, smoking a staggering 2,637 cigarettes each year.
2. Russia. On average, each resident drinks 13.7 litres of alcohol and smokes 2,690 cigarettes a year.
1. Czech Republic is the most unhealthy country in the world, ranking fifth for alcohol consumption and 11th for tobacco use. Some 29.1% of the population is also obese.
