Red Alert! : Non-Communicable Diseases, Dietary Habits and Lifestyle in Bangladesh

Non-communicable diseases (NCD), such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes, are responsible for close to three-quarters of all deaths globally. Understanding the patterns and risk factors of the NCDs is critically important to improve population health. Behavioral risk factors, e.g. unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and harmful use of tobacco and alcohol, that drive NCDs, along with a nexus of macro-level forces (rapid and unplanned urbanization, globalization of unhealthy lifestyles) need to be identified and addressed to prevent and control NCDs. This edited volume presents a comprehensive account of NCD burden in Bangladesh, identifies the associated risk factors, analyses their patterns and dynamics, and makes recommendations for population health policy interventions. Beyond an editorial chapter focusing on epidemiologic transition in the Low and Middle-Income Countries (including Bangladesh), the book includes 16 additional chapters, incorporating theoretical and conceptual discussions and rich analysis of empirical data from urban and rural areas of Bangladesh. The chapters also present an examination of the prevailing public health policies and programs. The book is relevant to anyone interested in population health, NCD dynamics, health policy, and development.