Risk factors for NCDs

Too often, NCDs are portrayed as the result of individual "lifestyle choices" — suggesting that personal responsibility alone determines health outcomes. This narrative is not only misleading, it’s harmful. 

It diverts attention away from the systemic factors that shape people's daily lives: poverty, gender inequality, lack of access to healthcare, poor urban planning, and unchecked corporate influence over food systems and marketing. Blaming individuals for structural failures reinforces stigma and ignores the real causes of ill health. 

Reducing the global burden of NCDs means addressing these upstream determinants and creating environments that make the healthy choice the easy choice. It’s not about changing people — it’s about changing systems.

Not everyone has the same opportunity to live a healthy life. People in low- and middle-income countries — and those living in poverty anywhere — are more likely to face environments that increase their exposure to NCD risk factors. 

Access to nutritious food is often limited, leading to greater consumption of ultra-processed products. Safe infrastructure for physical activity may be non-existent, and air pollution is a daily threat. Women in low-resource settings face unique risks, such as household air pollution from cooking fuels and gender norms that limit physical activity. Meanwhile, children, adolescents and women are prime targets of aggressive marketing by industries selling tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food. 

Without decisive action to address these inequities, the NCD burden will continue to grow along lines of income, gender and geography.

Health-harming industries selling tobacco, alcohol, ultra-processed food and fossil fuels are major drivers of the global NCD epidemic. These companies actively promote consumption of harmful products, especially in markets where public health regulation is weak or absent. 

Tactics include targeting vulnerable groups with persuasive marketing, funding biased research to downplay health harms, and lobbying to block or delay lifesaving regulations like taxes and warning labels. They also attempt to position themselves as responsible partners through corporate social responsibility campaigns — all while deflecting attention from systemic drivers to individual behaviour. 

This is not just about marketing; it’s about power, profit, and policy influence. Ending this cycle requires strong political will, public health-first policymaking, and holding industry accountable for the damage they cause.