Relatively few risk factors account for a large proportion of the global burden of disease. Smoking and indoor and outdoor air pollution together lead to more than 13 percent of total years of healthy life lost — and they wreck the body almost identically. “Particulates get inhaled, go into the lung, and the harm they do seems the same,” Murray says.
Dietary risks in aggregate top the rankings worldwide: In the U.S., too little fruit is the lead factor. In Italy, it’s high sodium. Murray says Americans could alter diet, tobacco use and exercise to powerful effect. “Where it’s good for you and it’s easy, why not do it?” he says. Risk varies by region. Household air pollution is the fourth-highest-ranked risk worldwide, but of much less consequence in the United States and Canada, where it’s ranked 24th and marked on the grid in coral green.
Rank and compare causes and risks in different countries by age group and sex with this interactive version of the visualization.