Smoking, a crucial factor putting the younger population at risk for heart attack, had a much higher incidence in rural areas (40.8 per cent) than in urban areas (15 per cent) and slums (32.2 per cent).

Also, 11.2 per cent of respondents from the rural areas were overweight, 4.2 per cent suffered from probable angina and 0.5 per cent from probable stroke.

Over 27 per cent in the slums were categorised as overweight while the overall rate of obesity in the general population was found to be over 23 per cent.

Explaining the trend, Head of the Cardiology Department at PGI, Dr Yash Paul said: “The upward graph of CVDs in rural areas signifies the changing lifestyle of the population. A few years ago, 2-4 per cent of the people in rural areas suffered from CVDs while this figure has now risen to 6-8 per cent. More and more of the youth re coming in. Our observations have found that CVD affects around 10-14 per cent of the urban population and the rural areas have started to match that figure now. This is due to less physical exercise, more calorie intake and smoking among the rural population.”