One in every three Turks clinically obese: Report

Nearly a third of the Turkish population, or 32.1 percent, comprises obese people, whereas 66.8 percent of the population is either overweight or obese, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report released during the 29th European Congress on Obesity in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

With the total figure, Turkey leads 53 countries in the WHO European Region, followed by Malta (66.4 percent), Israel (64.3 percent), the United Kingdom (63.7 percent), Andorra (63.7 percent), Greece (62.3 percent), Czechia (62.3 percent), Bulgaria (61.7 percent) and Spain (61.6 percent).

The WHO European Regional Obesity Report 2022 showed that the average rates of obesity and obesity plus overweight were 23.3 percent and 58.7 percent, respectively.

The 10 countries with the smallest obese populations are found to be Tajikistan (45.3 percent), Uzbekistan (48.2 percent), Kyrgyzstan (48.3 percent), Moldova (51.8 percent), Turkmenistan (51.8 percent), Bosnia and Herzegovina (53.3 percent), Azerbaijan (53.6 percent), Kazakhstan (53.6 percent), Georgia (54.2 percent) and Austria (54.3 percent).

The obesity rate among Turkish men is estimated at 24.4 percent, whereas among Turkish women at 39.2 percent, the report showed.

The age-standardized prevalence of overweight and obesity among school-aged children (5-9 years) in Turkey was 32.7 percent and 14.9 percent, respectively.

Among Turkish adolescents (10-19 years), the rates of overweight and obesity were 27.9 percent and 9.8 percent, respectively.

Obesity ongoing 'epidemic'

Overweight and obesity are among the leading causes of death and disability in the European region, with recent estimates suggesting they cause more than 1.2 million deaths annually,...