Nearly one in five people is obese in Turkey: Survey

Nearly one in five people in Turkey is obese, according to the results of a 2019 health survey released by the TÜİK on June 4.

The survey showed that 21.1 percent of the Turkish people aged 15 years and older had a body mass index of 30 or over, TÜİK said. The rate was 19.6 percent in 2016.

BMI is your bodyweight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. A BMI of 18.5 to 25 is considered normal while a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight. 30 or over falls into obese category.

The rate of obesity in women 15 and older is 24.8 percent, according to the survey, while 17.3 percent of men is obese, with 39.7 percent falling into pre-obese category, which means they have a BMI of 25 to 30.

The pre-obesity rate in women, on the other hand, stood at 30.4 percent.

When the most common disease types in 0-6 age group were analyzed in the second six-month period of the previous year, upper respiratory tract infection ranked first with 35.9 percent.

It was followed by diarrhea with 28.7 percent and lower respiratory tract infection with 9.5 percent.

The most common disease types in individuals aged 15 and over last year were waist and neck problems with 29.7 percent, hypertension with 16.4 percent, allergy with 12.3 percent and arthrosis with 11.2 percent, respectively.

Some 28 percent of people over 15 in Turkey smoke either every day or every once in a while, according to the report.

This rate was 41.3 percent for men and 14.9 percent for women.

The proportion of individuals who do not use tobacco decreased from 69.4 percent in 2016 to 68.7 percent in 2019.

Individuals using the most tobacco were in the 35-44 age group with 42.8 percent when analyzed by age groups.

The rate of...