Obesity profile in Turkey

Background: Obesity is becoming a severe health problem worldwide. We evaluated the prevalence of obesity in different regions of Turkey, to study the association between BMI and regional nutritional habits and to compare the results with previous epidemiological studies. Method: 13,878 individuals (6,799 males and 7,079 females) were screened in six different regions of Turkey between 2000-2005 (Istanbul and Kastamonu from Northern part of the country, Gaziantep from South, Denizli and Kırklareli from the West and Konya from the middle part of the country). The sample was randomly selected and all participants were older than 20 years of age. Weight (kg), height (cm) and waist circumference (cm) were measured and body mass index (BMI) was calculated according to World Health Organization (WHO) methods and criteria. Results: The mean BMI was 27.52 kg/m 2 , 26.80 kg/m 2 in men and 28.24 kg/m 2 in women. The mean waist circumference was 98.5 cm in men and 79.8 cm in women. 30.9% of the subjects have normal weight, 39.6 % were overweight, and 29.5% were obese according to the WHO classification. The highest prevalence (39.9%) of obesity was observed between the ages of 50-59 years. The prevalence of obesity was highest in Gaziantep (41.6%), which is an industrialized city in the southeastern part of the country. The prevalence of overweight in men aged from 60-69 years was 49.7% and was 37.2% in women between the ages of 30-39 years. The highest frequency of obesity for men was 27.9 % in the 50-59 years age group whereas the highest frequency of obesity for women was 51.4 %) in the 50-59 years age group. A heterogenous set of results were obtained with respect to lifestyles and nutritional habits for every city when the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the age groups were evaluated according to regions. Conclusion: Obesity is a major health problem in Turkey and the increased prevalence of obesity in the young age group raises concern.