Health call from CHP! 'Fighting obesity cannot be done by weighing people on the street'

CHP Deputy Chair Aksaz Şahbaz issued a written statement regarding the rising obesity rate in Turkey. Stating in her statement that obesity is a public health crisis facing Turkey, Aksaz Şahbaz noted the following:

“Turkey is facing a silently deepening public health crisis: the obesity epidemic. Obesity is not just a matter of individual lifestyle; it is a direct trigger for many fatal diseases, from diabetes to cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and certain types of cancer. However, the Ministry of Health's response to this crisis has been reduced to a populist and performative practice with no scientific basis, such as weighing the public in markets and bazaars.

“THE OBESITY RATE, WHICH WAS 22 PERCENT IN 1998, IS 32 PERCENT TODAY”

According to the Turkey Nutrition and Health Survey data, the obesity rate among adults is 31.5 percent. 39.1 percent of women and 24.6 percent of men are obese. 3 out of every 10 adults are obese. The obesity rate in childhood is 9.9 percent, and the overweight rate is 14.6 percent. With these figures, Turkey has become one of the countries with the highest obesity burden among OECD countries. The obesity rate, which was 22 percent in 1998, has risen above 32 percent today. The underlying causes of this increase are poverty, unhealthy nutrition, inactivity, lack of education, and inadequate public infrastructure.

Moreover, this picture is deepening further with the worsening economic crisis. Food inflation is over 70 percent. While food prices are falling globally, access to basic food has become a luxury in Turkey. Millions of workers and retirees cannot afford to put meat on their tables and cannot even buy milk for their children. Families who cannot access eggs are condemned to the cheapest but unhealthiest processed carbohydrates. Today, one in every four children in Turkey goes to school hungry, and one in every five children cannot eat at least one day a week. The mentality that begrudges these children one free and healthy school meal leaves the fight against obesity to rhetoric alone. Unhealthy nutrition has become a necessity, not a choice. Under these conditions, obesity is a direct result of poverty and public neglect.

An urgent and effective public struggle against this public health crisis is essential. Education and awareness are essential. Healthy nutrition and active living courses should be made mandatory at all levels, starting from preschool. Programs aimed at fighting obesity should be included in the medical and health sciences curriculum, and in-service training for healthcare workers should be organized.

Investment should be made in childhood. The employment of dietitians and physiotherapists in every school should be made mandatory. All children should be provided with one free, healthy school meal, and school canteens should be strictly inspected.

Healthy cities and active living should be encouraged. Walking paths, bicycle tracks, and open sports areas should be expanded in urban planning. Local governments' community exercise programs should be encouraged and expanded.

Primary healthcare services should be strengthened. Dietitians, physiotherapists, and psychologists should be mandatorily employed in family health centers. Screening and referral systems for at-risk individuals should be developed and integrated with digital systems such as e-Nabız.

Scientific monitoring and effective supervision should be ensured. Field studies measuring the frequency of obesity and diabetes should be conducted across Turkey every 5 years, and the results should be shared with the public transparently. Legal sanctions should be applied against non-scientific practices and fake treatment promises offered under the name of 'miracle diets'.

This is our call: fighting obesity is not possible by weighing people on the street or hanging posters, but through scientific, public-oriented, and egalitarian policies. No strategy that ignores poverty, unhealthy cities, lack of education, and unfair access to food can succeed. Healthy living is not a privilege, it is a constitutional right. Guaranteeing this right for every citizen is the most fundamental duty of the social state.”