Awareness of Diabetes and Obesity in Turkey

Abstract

Purpose: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and obesity (OB) are rising problems globally, and are also rapidly growing health issues in Turkey. The lack of a proper public awareness has worsened the situation, thereby hampering the implementation of preventive measures. The aim of the present study was to evaluate a questionnaire, speci cally designed for measuring the level of awareness of the general Turkish population on DM and OB. Material and Method: The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) questionnaire was modi ed to measure the in uence of knowledge about diet and physical activity on DM and OB among the Turkish population. We investigated the relationship between the level of knowledge of volunteers on DM and OB and other factors, such as age, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), education, and having DM or a family history of DM. The results were analyzed appropriately using Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multiple logistic regression model. The present study was observational and designed prospectively. Results: According to the observations, only 30.1% of the total volunteers that took part in the study had an awareness of DM and OB. There was no statistical difference on the level of knowledge about DM and OB between the various gender groups included in the study (p= 0.590). The participants with university level education scored the highest. The mean scores of knowledge on DB and OB were found to be lowest among the people with low SES; however, surprisingly, people with high/very high SES also scored low. Discussion: The results obtained indicated that the level of awareness of DM and OB was moderate and insuf cient. DM and OB were present in approximately 6.5 and 15.2 million people in Turkey, respectively. With a diminished awareness among the Turkish people on DM and OB, the responsibility lies on the shoulders of the young population to create awareness on a large scale for the betterment of the future generations.

Noninvasive assessment of insulin resistance and diabetes risk among health care professionals in a tertiary care hospital

“…According to this study, the prevalence of IGT, obesity, and central obesity was elevated to 106%, 40%, and 35%, respectively. Besides, age, hypertension, waist measurement, BMI, low level of education, living environment in women, as well as age, BMI, and hypertension in men, were found as independently associated with an increased prevalence of DM (21). The study of Kulkarni et al indicated that the modifiable measures of adiposity (BMI and WC) were associated with higher odds of diabetes than other risk score components (22).…”

Examination of Type 2 Diabetes Risk, Behavioural and Family Risk Factors, and Type 2 Diabetes Awareness in Healthcare Professionals Vocational School Students: The case of the Eastern Anatolian region of Turkey

“…Those who scored between 16 and 25 were grouped as those with high awareness. The questionnaire prepared by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) in Dinççağ et al (2017) was prepared with modifications (12). In this study, the Cronbach's Alpha coefficient of the scale was found to be 0.902.…”

“…Knowledge and awareness of type 2 diabetes are also important for behaviour change (11). For example, it has been reported that raising awareness of type 2 diabetes may be a very important factor in the long-term prevention of type 2 diabetes (12). In addition, research shows that addressing modifiable risk factors such as obesity, diet and physical inactivity can delay the onset of the disease (13).…”

“…Over the past three years, the coronavirus pandemic has affected the lifestyles of young people, leading to more inactive lifestyles and unhealthy diets. Behavioural change and awareness of lifestyle changes are therefore very important in type 2 diabetes (12,14). In many studies, the presence of diabetes risk and a low or moderate level of awareness cause problems in the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes.…”

Genomic Variants of Cytokine Associated With Development and Complication of Type 2 Diabetes in a Group of Turkish Population

“…The sum of the healthcare expenditure on diabetes was USD 966 billion (20-79 years) in 2021 due to the data of IDF which represented an 316% rise over the last 15 years (IDF, 2021). Correlatively to other countries, the prevalence of DM is on the rise enormously in Turkey (Dinççağ et al 2017). TURDEP-1 which is a cross-sectional survey was carried out in Turkey between 1997 and 1998, including a population of 24,788 adults whose were older than 20 years.…”