Lifestyle medicine in community-engaged health promotion

Globally, chronic diseases (CDs) or non-communicable conditions are soaring at an alarming rate. The number of cases ispredicted to climb even more with ageing populations, globalisation, and urbanisation. CDs have disabled or taken the lives of many people of all age groups, disproportionately affecting people in low- and middle-income countries and populations (WHO 2018; Higuchi 2010; WHO 2005). The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 14 million people each year die from a chronic disease, which is equivalent to 71% of all deaths worldwide (WHO 2018). Cardiovascular diseases account for most of the world’s CD deaths, or 17.9 million people annually, followed by 9.0 million from cancers, 3.9 million from respiratory illnesses, and 1.6 million from diabetes (WHO 2018). The world chronic diseases figures are enormous, and they will continue to have an impact on people's lives, particularly for those living in developed countries as well as marginalised groups in low income neighbourhoods.