Overview

Lifestyle-related illnesses include conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hepatitis, HIV and liver disease. These place great demand on the health and social care services, by contributing to the growing burden of chronic disease. Such illnesses present public health systems with a difficult challenge due to their multi-factorial nature and strong links to lifestyle factors such as tobacco use, excessive alcohol consumption, poor diet, a lack of physical activity and having an unhealthy body weight. Many of these lifestyle risk factors are also strongly linked with deprivation, employment, housing and education. 

Many of the communities and district areas of the Lancashire-12 area perform poorly against the national indicators associated with a poor lifestyles and chronic illness, and also have issues with premature mortality and low life expectancy, two key outcomes associated with an unhealthy lifestyle. More details can be found in the district profiles.

The wider impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic are being measured and reported by the Office for Health Improvements and Disparities (OHID). The profile for Lancashire can be accessed from the OHID website. 

Page updated June 2022