Last week I was in Moscow, Russia - watching history in the making. It was the first time the World Health Organization (WHO) has ever invited non-government groups to discuss an issue at an officially sanctioned meeting (typically WHO discussions are limited to representatives of member nations); and the topic was focused on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the prevention of chronic or lifestyle disease.

The WHO has determined four areas of emphasis in this fight:

1. elimination of tobacco use, 
2. increase in physical activity, 
3. a healthy diet (specifically less salt, less fat, less sugar), and, 
4. avoidance of the harmful use of alcohol. 

If all the population of the world would achieve even part of these important lifestyle changes, there would be a huge reduction in premature death from heart disease, stroke and cancer!

For thousands of years humans have fallen to the illnesses served up by nature's villains. Infectious disease such as bubonic plague, malaria and tuberculosis have killed millions. But the tables have turned -- we are now killing ourselves at a higher rate than nature is killing us.

The World Health Organization reveals this in the Global Status Report on Noncommunicable Diseases. Each year, of the 57 million deaths in the world, 63% (36 million) are now from self-inflicted causes. Four specific risk factors were identified: (1) tobacco, (2) alcohol, (3) lack of exercise, and (4) poor eating habits. 

Around the world, one billion adults are overweight. This will rise to 1.5 billion by 2015. Of children under 5 years of age, 40 million are overweight or obese.