OTTAWA, July 21 (Xinhua) -- The number of heart disease patients in Canada rose considerably in the past decade and is expected to continue that trend as risk factors for the disease keep rising in the younger generation, according to a report released Tuesday.

    In 2005, an estimated 1.29 million Canadians reported having heart disease, the No.1 killer in the country. That was a 19.3 percent increase among men and 2.1 percent increase among women compared with 1994, The "Canadian Medical Association Journal" report said.

    The study also found that the risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity, are rising among younger people between 12 to 50 years of age, suggesting cardiovascular disease rates are going to continue to rise.

    "Projections suggest that the rising prevalence of obesity in the current generation of adolescents will increase the prevalence of coronary heart disease by five to 16 percent in 2035, and may for the first time in two centuries significantly reduce life expectancy in the 21st century," said Dr. Douglas Lee of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and coauthors.

    The report found that rates of high blood pressure were up 77 percent between 1994 and 2005 among both sexes, diabetes was up 45percent over the same period, and obesity rates rose 18 percent.

    People from lower income groups had the most risk factors for heart disease. But the prevalence of obesity is increasing in all socioeconomic groups, while the rates of hypertension have nearly doubled, the report noted.

    Diabetes is also on the rise among almost all income groups, although the gap between the richest and the poorest is widening over time.

    The report suggests governments take steps to encourage healthy eating, increasing community programming for physical activity in low-income areas and making cities more pedestrian-friendly.