Recognize Your Health Risks

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Health risk factors are habits or conditions that increase your chance of developing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) or the so-called “lifestyle diseases”. To find out which of your habits pose a threat to your health, take this quiz:

1. Do you try to maintain your ideal body weight?
2. Do you avoid eating foods with lots of fat and sugar?
3. Do you exercise and always try to be physically active?
4. Do you do muscle strengthening and conditioning exercises?
5. Do you get your blood pressure checked on a regular basis?
6. Do you cope with pressure and stress well?
7. Do you have time to relax on a daily basis?
8. Do you avoid smoking cigarettes or tobacco?
9. Do you avoid drinking too much alcohol?
10. Do you avoid taking drugs not prescribed by your doctor?

The questions you answered with “no” indicate your health risk factors. The more risk factors you have, the greater your chances of getting NCDs.

You can reduce your health risks by working on one risk factor at a time. If you have identified smoking, drinking too much alcohol, and not being able to manage stress as your health risk factors, do not attempt to change everything at once. Concentrate on one risk factor first before tackling another one. You could start to avoid drinking alcoholic beverages. Once you have broken the habit, you can focus on managing your stress level and find more time to relax. Then plan how you can quit smoking. This step-by-step process will give you the strength and confidence to eventually eliminate all your health risks.