There are many risk factors to cardiovascular disease including family history, ethnicity, age, tobacco exposure, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, physical inactivity, unhealthy diets, diabetes, and harmful use of alcohol, to name a few.
Unfortunately, some of these risks are unavoidable, such as family history, age, and ethnicity, while other risks are preventable.
Physical inactivity is one that you can change, which can reduce your risk of a stroke by 50%. Adding a healthy diet will also reduce that risk. The combination of both of these options will also reduce the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. These four risk factors are four of the highest risk factors in cardiovascular disease.
The fifth and most important risk factor is hypertension (high blood pressure). To reduce this, the combination above (physical activity, healthy diet, healthy weight, and no diabetes) helps to reduce the risk of hypertension. Tobacco use and the abuse of alcohol also can contribute to hypertension.
http://www.world-heart-federation.org/cardiovascular-health/cardiovascular-disease-risk-factors/