20 million of the adult population in Turkey are obese

Starting his speech with what obesity is and what problems it causes, Assoc. Dr. Barış Sarıakçalı said: “Obesity, which is accepted as a complex and multifactorial disease that adversely affects health, is the second leading cause of preventable death after smoking. Obesity, cardiovascular disease, especially type 2 diabetes and prediabetes, hypertension (HT), hyperlipidemia (HL), cerebrovascular disease, various cancers, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, gastroesophageal reflux, bile duct disease, it is increasing health expenditure by causing many health problems such as polycystic ovarian syndrome, infertility, osteoarthritis and depression. Obesity develops with excessive fat accumulation in the body secondary to high energy intake.

Technological tools increase obesity

Referring to the causes of obesity, Sarıakçalı said technological tools are increasing obesity and said, “The main reasons for the increase in obesity prevalence are; Especially with the developing technology in the transportation, entertainment, manufacturing and agriculture sectors, the decrease in physical activity secondary to lifestyle facilitation and the increase in energy intake due to the rapid change in dietary habits. One of the main factors leading to obesity is unhealthy food that is eaten quickly (fast food), high in refined carbohydrates, low in vegetable fiber, too fatty, energy intensive diet. It has been suggested that nutrition in the early years of life, especially the inability to be fed on breast milk, paves the way for the development of obesity in the future. In addition, the widespread use of advanced technological tools (smartphones, television, computers, tablets, home theaters, etc.) that allow easy filling of leisure time contributes significantly to the increase in obesity.

“It is necessary to make contingency plans”

Sharing the statistics about our country, Assoc. Dr. Sarıakçalı said that an emergency action plan should be drawn up in this regard: “The prevalence of obesity in the adult population in our country has exceeded the critically high rate of 30 percent. Although the prevalence of obesity is higher in women, the rapid increase in men in recent years also attracts attention TURDEP-II (Turkey Diabetes mellitus) In the epidemiological study, the prevalence of obesity was found to be 35 percent (44 percent for women, 27 percent for men) in the general population. ranks first in obesity in Europe. The obesity rate among the adult population according to OECD countries is about 19.5-20 percent. Turkey is above that. One in three adults in Turkey is obese. There are 650 million obese, 1 billion 9 million overweight people in the world 20 million of the adult population in Turkey are obese, more than that are overweight 60-65 percent of the adult population in our country, which is known to be overweight and obese, says the Department of Health should create emergency action plans for obesity.