Summary -- Abbreviations -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 Purpose of this report -- 1.2 Understanding the nature of health risks -- 1.3 The risk transition -- 1.4 Measuring impact of risk -- 1.5 Risk factors in the update for 2004 -- 1.6 Regional estimates for 2004 -- 2 Results -- 2.1 Global patterns of health risk -- 2.2 Childhood and maternal undernutrition -- 2.3 Other diet-related risk factors and physical inactivity -- 2.4 Sexual and reproductive health -- 2.5 Addictive substances -- 2.6 Environmental risks -- 2.7 Occupational and other risks -- 3 Joint effects of risk factors -- 3.1 Joint contribution of risk factors to specific diseases -- 3.2 Potential health gains from reducing multiple risk factors -- 3.3 Conclusions -- Annex A: Data and methods -- A1.1 Estimating population attributable fractions -- A1.2 Risk factors -- Table A1: Definition, theoretical minima, disease outcomes and data sources for the selected global risk factors -- Table A2: Summary prevalence of selected risk factors by income group in WHO regionsa, 2004 -- Table A3: Attributable mortality by risk factor and income group in WHO regionsa, estimates for 2004 -- Table A4: Attributable DALYs by risk factor and income group in WHO regionsa, estimates for 2004 -- Table A5: Countries grouped by WHO region and income per capitaa in 2004. -- References -- Table 1: Ranking of selected risk factors: 10 leading risk factor causes of death by income group, 2004 -- Table 2: Ranking of selected risk factors: 10 leading risk factor causes of DALYs by income group, 2004 -- Table 3: Deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) attributable to five risk factors for child and maternal undernutrition, and to all five risks combined -- countries grouped by income, 2004.

Table 4: Deaths and DALYs attributable to five diet-related risks and physical inactivity, and to all six risks combined, by region, 2004 -- Table 5: Deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) attributable to alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use, and to all three risks together, by region, 2004 -- Table 6: Deaths and DALYs attributable to five environmental risks, and to all five risks combined by region, 2004. -- Table 7: Percentage of total disease burden due to 5 and 10 leading risks and all 24 risks in this report, world, 2004 -- Table 8: Percentage of total disease burden due to 10 leading risks, by region and income group, 2004 -- Table A1: Definition, theoretical minima, disease outcomes and data sources for the selected global risk factors -- Table A2: Summary prevalence of selected risk factors by income group in WHO regionsa, 2004 -- Table A3: Attributable mortality by risk factor and income group in WHO regionsa, estimates for 2004 -- Table A4: Attributable DALYs by risk factor and income group in WHO regionsa, estimates for 2004 -- Table A5: Countries grouped by WHO region and income per capitaa in 2004. -- Figure 1: The causal chain. Major causes of ischaemic heart disease are shown. Arrows indicate some (but not all) of the pathways by which these causes interact. -- -- Figure 2: The risk transition. Over time, major risks to health shift from traditional risks (e.g. inadequate nutrition or unsafe water and sanitation) to modern risks (e.g. overweight and obesity). Modern risks may take different trajectories in differen -- Figure 3: An observed population distribution of average systolic blood pressure (SBP, right-hand distribution) and the ideal population distribution of average systolic blood pressure (left-hand distribution).

Figure 4: Counterfactual attribution. Lung cancer deaths in 2004 (outer circle) showing the proportion attributed to smoking and urban air pollution. Deaths that would have been prevented by removing either exposure are represented by the area where the i -- Figure 5: Low- and middle-income countries grouped by WHO region, 2004. Refer to Table A5 (Annex A) for list of countries and definitions of categories. -- Figure 6: Deaths attributed to 19 leading risk factors, by country income level, 2004. -- Figure 7: Percentage of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) attributed to 19 leading risk factors, by country income level, 2004. -- Figure 8: Major causes of death in children under 5 years old with disease-specific contribution of undernutrition, 2004. -- Figure 9: Attributable disability-adjusted life year (DALY) rates for selected diet-related risk factors, and all six risks together, by WHO region and income level, 2004. -- Figure 10: Burden of disease attributable to lack of contraception, by WHO region, 2004. -- Figure 11: Percentage of deaths over age 30 years caused by tobacco, 2004. -- Figure 12: Disease burden attributable to 24 global risk factors, by income and WHO region, 2004. -- Figure 13: Potential gain in life expectancy in the absence of selected risks to health, world, 2004.