Determinants of the Obesity of Adults in Turkey: An Empirical Study
Abstract
Obesity is a rapidly increasing health problem in Turkey. In this study, it was aimed to determine how adults who are obese in Turkey are affected by variables such as age, gender, marital status, education, income, as well as health status, physical activity time, adult diabetes, emotion, depressive, exercise, walking, cycling. The used econometric model is a two-stage Heckman model. While the probit model in the first stage of the model is estimated for specifying the variables which affect the probability of adults being obese/overweight, the Tobit model in the second stage is estimated to determine the effects of these variables on the adult body mass index (BMI). Data from Health Surveys of the Turkish Statistical Institute for the year 2016 are used in the study. The results show that the probability of being obese and BMI increase in age at a decreasing rate. On the other hand, the level of education decreases the probability of being obese and body mass index. Males are more likely to be overweight and obese than females, whereas the BMI of overweight-obese females is higher than the BMI of overweight- obese males. In addition, being married being middle or high income, being diabetic, being depressed and feeling worthless increase the probability of being overweight-obese and cause an increase in BMI level, while physical activities such as daily exercises and taking regular walks cause a decrease in the likelihood of being overweight-obese and BMI in Turkey.
References
[2] Demir O, Demir N, Bilginç A (2019). Determinants of obesity in Turkey: appetite or disease? Journal of Public Health (Berl.), 27: 151.
[3] Erem C (2015). Prevalence of overweight and obesity in Turkey, IJC Metabolic & Endocrine, vol: 8, September, 38-41.
[4] Gil JM, Takourabt S (2017). Socio‐economics, food habits and the prevalence of childhood obesity in Spain. Childcare, Health And Development, 43(2), 250-258.
[5] Greene WH (2012). Econometric Analysis, Seventh Edition, Pearson Education Limited.
[6] Gupta N, Goel K, Shah P, Misra A (2012). Childhood obesity in developing countries: epidemiology, determinants, and prevention. Endocrine Reviews, 33(1), 48-70.
[7] Heckman J.J (1979). Sample Selection Bias As a Specification Error, Econometrica, 47 (153–161).
[8] Kain J, Vio F, Albala C (2003). Obesity trends and determinant factors in Latin America. Cadernos de SaúdePública, 19, 77-S86.
[9] Lakdawalla D, Philipson T (2007). Labor Supply And Weight. Journal Of Human Resources, 42(1), 85-116.
[10] Philipson, T. J, Posner, R A (1999). The long-run growth in obesity as a function of technological change (No. w7423). National Bureau Of Economic Research.
[11] Shrewsbury V, Wardle J (2008). Socioeconomic status and adiposity in childhood: A Systematic Review of Cross‐Sectional Studies 1990–2005. Obesity, 16(2), 275-284.
[12] Sobal J, Stunkard A J (1989). Socio-economic status and obesity: A Review of the Literature. Psychological Bulletin, 105(2), 260.
[13] Şengül S (2004). Türkiye’de gelir gruplarına göre gıda talebi. ODTÜ Gelişme Dergisi, 31 (1):115–148.
[14] T.C Sağlık Bakanlığı Halk Sağlığı Genel Müdürlüğü, ( 2019). Sağlıklı Beslenme ve Hareketli Hayat Programı, 2014-2017, Ankara.
[15] Villar G. J, Domeque QC (2009). Income and body mass index in Europe. Econ Hum Biol, 7:73–83.
[16] Tansel A, Karaoğlan D (2014). Health behaviors and education in Turkey, Bonn, Germany: Institute for the Study of Labor (Iza) Discussion Paper No.8262.
[17] Tansel A, Karaoğlan D (2017). determinants of obesity in turkey: a quantile regression analysis from a developing country.IZA Discussion Paper No. 10491
[18] Tansel A, Karaoğlan D (2019a). Determinants of health behaviors and obesity in Turkey. Sosyoekonomi, 27(41), 11-40.
[19] Tansel A, Karaoğlan D (2019b). The Effect of education on health behaviors and obesity in Turkey: Instrumental variable estimates from a developing country, The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan; European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(5), pages 1416-1448, December.
[20] TÜİK, (2019a).
[21] TÜİK, (2019b).
[22] Türkiye Endokrinoloji ve Metabolizma Derneği, (2019). Obezite Tanı ve Tedevi kılavuzu.
[23] Wang Y, Lim H (2012). The global childhood obesity epidemic and the association between socio-economic status and childhood obesity. Int Rev Psychiatry. Jun;24(3):176-88.
[24] WHO, (2019),
[25] Yen ST, Chen Z, Eastwood, DB (2009). Lifestyles, Demographics, dietary behavior, and obesity: a switching regression analysis. Health Serv. Res. 44, 1345–1369.
[26] Yen ST (2012). Gender differences, physical activity and body weight. Appl. Econ 44(3921–3934).
[27] Yıldırım M, Akyol A, Ersoy G (2008). Şişmanlık (Obezite) ve Fiziksel Aktivite: Enerji Dengesinin Aktivite Yönüne Bir Bakış. 1. Baskı, Ankara. Sağlık Bakanlığı Yayını, 729.
[28] Yumuk V. D (2005). Prevalence of obesity in Turkey. Obesity Reviews, 6(1), 9-10.
Copyright (c) 2020 Review of Applied Socio-Economic Research

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright ©2019 Pro Global Science Association
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, transmitted or disseminated, in any form, or by any means, without prior written permission from Pro Global Science Association, to whom all requests to produce copyright material should be directed, in writing.